The majority of people who take antidepressants for depression don't actually get any relief from these drugs, unless they act as a placebo, according to a large and statistically powerful new study. This is because these drugs were developed in response to beliefs about depression - such as the belief that depression is caused by stressful life events and that it is triggered by imbalance in neurotransmitters in the brain - that are now known to be at least oversimplifications, and probably just plain incorrect.

What current antidepressive drugs are actually doing is treating stress, not depression, but, if stress is the problem, there are very good, simple non-drug approaches, such as deep breathing, exercise, meditation, even listening to music and eating chocolate!

For those who have clinical depression, rather than stress, there are also very good alternative treatments for this, such as 10 antidepressant alternatives that are proven to work, and other treatment options for healing depression, and there are many more suggestions elsewhere on this forum and contained within these research reports. Further sound self-help ideas can be found on numerous good websites, such as Medical News Today and Healthier Talk.

Seek and ye shall find!

Yes. Here's some research suggesting that people who take antidepressant drugs are actually more likely to suffer relapses of depression. In fact the data show that, used over the long term, antidepressants make it more likely that the patient will relapse.

Experts say that 15 years’ worth of data from clinical trials of antidepressants, much of it unpublished, shows that antidepressants are hardly better than placebos.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...e-you-sad.html

Here's another new approach to depression for anyone who can't or doesn't want to use drugs.

The new approach is less expensive than drugs to administer, is relatively less time-consuming and promises to yield rapid improvement of mood symptoms, holds little to no stigma, and carries no side effects.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0729175803.htm

also reported at: http://newsroom.ucr.edu/2691

Online depression therapy is showing good results:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0927112043.htm

Here's yet another study showing just how ineffective antidepressants really are, as neither these drugs - nor talk therapy, for that matter - were any better than a placebo.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/n...ry_120000.html

Electroacupuncture may be effective for depression (29 Mar 2012)
Boosting the effect of acupuncture needles with small electric currents may result in effective treatment for depression.

Avoid fast food! Link between fast food and depression confirmed (30 Mar 2012)
A new study along the same lines as its predecessors shows how eating fast food is linked to a greater risk of suffering from depression.

Five great herbs for fighting depression naturally (4 Apr 2012)
There are a number of herbal treatments for depression that have been proven to help, without negative side effects.

How to avoid the dangers of antidepressants (14 Apr 2012)
The dangers are elaborated and safer alternatives listed.

Anti-depressants likely do more harm than good, study suggests (24 Apr 2012)
Commonly prescribed anti-depressants appear to be doing patients more harm than good, say researchers who have published a paper examining the impact of the medications on the entire body.