The study team admit that many people believe the anti-depressant drugs do work for them, but they point out that this could be a placebo effect and not due to any actual properties of the medication they are taking.
The Hull University research team published their findings in the journal PLoS Medicine, and they had focused on drugs, which work by increasing amounts of the mood controlling substance serotonin in the brain. Fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Seroxat), and venlafaxine (Efexor) are all examples of drugs they examined.
Dr Andrew McCulloch, of the Mental Health Foundation, is reported to have said that people have come to rely too much on prescribed drugs and that other methods of treating depression exist.
"Talking therapies, exercise referral and other treatments are effective for depression. It is a problem that needs a variety of approaches matched to the individual patient," Dr McCulloch explained.
