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Now you may argue that was a placebo effect, that she only felt better because she thought she was on something that worked. Do you really think I give a hoot whether it was a placebo effect or an actual effect? Her emotional state is much better now (and she's beating the leukemia).

I doubt it was a placebo effect. I was clinically depressed for years. I first tried St. John's Wort and other natural remedies, and they didn't help at all. I finally broke down and saw a doctor and got a prescription for Wellbutrin, and my life has been 100% better since. If these anti-depressants were simply placebos, the St. John's Wort should have had the same effect as the Wellbutrin. I wonder if the writer of this article is involved with Scientology?

There was a thread (probably more than one) on this very same subject a week or so ago. One of the guys argued that mental illnesses are the result of not being sufficiently Christian. That's probably true in many cases. But while I wasn't too surprised that someone came up with that reasoning, I was surprised at how many joined in with him or proposed similar thinking.

A person that I grew up with -- one of 4 children in a healthy, loving family -- contracted schizophrenia in her early 20s. She disappeared and her parents found her 3 years later living under a bridge in some place like Cleveland or Cincinnati. Medicaiton has helped her immensely. Of course the placebo lover folks had no answer for that. I have also had friends who took antidepressants and literally got their lives restored.

Having a chemistry and chemical engineering background, I would suspect that the study is somehow flawed. If it was limited to people with mild situational depression, then a placebo would be expected to perform about the same as the real drug. If it were limited to people with severe, recalcitrant depression, then it is likely that the drugs would perform significantly better than the placebo. Unfortunately, I believe that the scientific education of those debating against me pretty much ended after the 8th grade.

SAMEe is the most prescribed antidepressant in the world, according to the life extension foundation, a non profit org, and is used often in europe. it works within days, and does not need to be permanently used. also, it has health benefits, such as being used clinically to treat liver disease, and has been reported to actually induce liver cell regeneration, according to published research. life extensionists use it for dna re-methylation. see lef.org.