The relationship between the placebo effect and spontaneous improvement in research on antidepressants. Are placebos powerless?
Hougaard, E.
Ugeskrift for Laeger 167(32): 2865-2869
2005
ISSN/ISBN: 1603-6824 PMID: 16109187 Document Number: 587050
Clinical trials of antidepressant medications have generally found large changes in groups given a placebo, which may be due to either spontaneous remission or a true placebo effect. This paper reviews the evidence for a true placebo effect in the treatment of unipolar depressed outpatients. Although there is no evidence from experimental studies, a rather substantial amount of circumstantial evidence indicates a true placebo effect. This article raises the question of whether it is meaningful to require experimental evidence for a loose and unspecified concept involving varying components such as placebo.