Wow, I must be one of the “severely depressed” on whom the pills actually work. I was diagnosed way back in ‘93 and have been on and off Zoloft, which didn’t do much except make me manic and lose hair. I never wanted to admit or accept I had some new-fangled hip and trendy syndrome, and always thumbed my nose at the idea of lining pharmacutical companies’ pockets, however the more I tried to fight it the worse things became. I’m on Prozac now and can honestly say it is working. I was severely debilitated and suicidal and was worried about the 2 weeks it takes for the pills to kick in, but they have really improved things for me. Yes, I worry about psychological addiction, but my doc over here in England has told me that I have a “disorder” and may need to be on the pills for a while. He’s tried to arrange for counselling as well but there is a huge waiting list. I’m coming back to the States for a few months soon and plan to stock up on pills before I head back. Yes, I pay for them on the NHS, but they’re discounted. So...
The problem in general is not so much whether these medications will or will not work, but was the individual correctly diagnosed in the first place. An example is the number of children who are incorrectly diagnosed with ADHD each year, and placed on medications they should not be taking. The same problem exists with other disorders like depression and anxiety. The diagnosis is easy to give out.