A report in the Washington Post shows that antidepressants fail to cure the symptoms of major depression in half of all patients with the disease—even if they receive the best possible care. This, according to a major government study released yesterday.

Significant numbers of patients continue to experience symptoms such as sadness, low energy and hopelessness after intensive treatment, even as about an equal number report an end to such problems — a result that quickly lent itself to interpretations that the glass was either half empty or half full.

This study is important because it demonstrates that taking a pill to fix your situation is NOT always the answer. It also bears pointing out that regular EXERCISE has been proven—in study after study—to lift depression.

Exercise conducted outdoors, especially in the bright light, has also been shown to be a powerful antidepressant.

Tags: antidepressant discontinuation syndrome, depression, exercise, Fitness, ssri

This entry was posted on Friday, March 24th, 2006 at 2:21 am and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.