Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

A round-up of the ONWARDS phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the novel weekly insulin icodec in people with diabetes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Psychiatry
Published in: BMC Psychiatry 1/2016

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Research article

‘In my life antidepressants have been…’: a qualitative analysis of users’ diverse experiences with antidepressants

Authors: Kerry Gibson, Claire Cartwright, John Read

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2016

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

While mental health professionals have focused on concerns about whether antidepressants work on a neurochemical level it is important to understand the meaning this medication holds in the lives of people who use it. This study explores diversity in the experience of antidepressant users.

Methods

One thousand seven hundred forty-seven New Zealand antidepressant users responded to an open-ended question about their experience of antidepressants. This was analysed using content and thematic analysis.

Results

There was considerable diversity in participants’ responses including positive (54 %), negative (16 %) and mixed (28 %) experiences with antidepressants. Those with positive experiences saw antidepressants as a necessary treatment for a ‘disease’, a life saver, a way of meeting social obligations, dealing with difficult circumstances or a stepping stone to further help. Negative themes described antidepressants as being ineffective, having unbearable side effects, undermining emotional authenticity, masking real problems and reducing the experience of control. Mixed experience themes showed how participants weighed up the unpleasant side effects against the benefits, felt calmer but less like themselves, struggled to find the one or dosage and felt stuck with continuing on antidepressants when they wished to stop.

Conclusions

Mental health professions need to recognize that antidepressants are not a ‘one size fits all’ solution.
Literature
1.
Jureidini J, Tonkin A. Overuse of antidepressant drugs for the treatment of depression. CNS Drugs. 2006;20(8):623–32.CrossRefPubMed
2.
Olfson M, Marcus SC. National patterns in antidepressant medication treatment. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2009;66(8):848–56.CrossRefPubMed
3.
4.
Fountoulakis K, Möller H. Efficacy of antidepressants: a re-analysis of re-interpretation of the Kirsch data. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2011;14(3):405–12.CrossRefPubMed
5.
Kirsch I, Deacon BJ, Huedo-Medina TB, et al. Initial severity and antidepressant benefits: A meta-analysis of data submitted to the Food and Drug Administration. PLoS Med. 2008;5(2):e45.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
6.
Vermeire E, Hearnshaw H, Van Royen P, et al. Patient adherence to treatment: Three decades of research. A comprehensive review. J Clin Pharm Ther. 2001;26:331–42.CrossRefPubMed
7.
Dijkstra A, Jaspers M, van Zwieten M. Psychiatric and psychological factors in patient decision making concerning antidepressant use. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2008;76(1):149–57.CrossRefPubMed
8.
Horne R, Weinman J. Patients’ beliefs about prescribed medicines and their role in adherence to treatment in chronic physical illness. J Psychosom Res. 1999;47(6):555–67.CrossRefPubMed
9.
Pound P, Britten N, Morgan M, et al. Resisting medicines: a synthesis of qualitative studies of medicine taking. Soc Sci Med. 2005;61(1):133–55.CrossRefPubMed
10.
Schofield P, Crosland A, Waheed W, et al. Patients’ views of antidepressants: from first experiences to becoming expert. Br J Gen Pract. 2011;61(585):e142–8.CrossRefPubMedCentral
11.
Liebert R, Gavey N. “I Didn’t Just Cross a Line I Tripped Over an Edge”: Experiences of Serious Adverse Effects with Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors. NZ J Psychol. 2008;37(1):38–48.
12.
Pestello FG, Davis-Berman J. Taking anti-depressant medication: A qualitative examination of internet postings. J Ment Health. 2008;17(4):349–60.CrossRef
13.
Price J, Cole V, Goodwin GM. Emotional side-effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: qualitative study. Br J Psychiatry. 2009;195(3):211–7.CrossRefPubMed
14.
van Geffen E, Gardarsdottir H, van Hulten R, et al. Initiation of antidepressant therapy: do patients follow the GP’s prescription? Br J Gen Pract. 2009;59:81–7.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
15.
Garfield S, Smith F, Francis SA. The paradoxical role of antidepressant medication- returning to normal functioning while losing the sense of being normal. J Ment Health. 2003;12(5):521–35.CrossRef
16.
Grime J, Pollock K. Patients’ ambivalence about taking antidepressants: a qualitative study. Pharm J. 2003;271(7270):516–9.
17.
Fullagar S. Negotiating the neurochemical self: anti-depressant consumption in women’s recovery from depression. Health. 2009;13(4):389–406.PubMed
18.
Read J, Gibson K, Cartwright C, Shiels C, Dowrick C, Gabbay M. Understanding the non-pharmacological correlates of self-reported efficacy of antidepressants. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2015;131(6):434–45.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
19.
Uher R, Huezo-Diaz P, Perroud N, et al. Genetic predictors of response to antidepressants in the GENDEP project. Pharmacogenomics J. 2009;9:225–33.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Katz MM, Tekell JL, Bowden CL, et al. Onset and early behavioural effects of pharmacologically-different antidepressants and placebo in depression. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2004;29:566–79.CrossRefPubMed
21.
Karp D. Taking anti-depressant medications: Resistance, trial commitment, conversion, disenchantment. Qual Sociol. 1993;16:337–59.CrossRef
22.
Malpass A, Shaw A, Sharp D, et al. “Medication career” or “moral career”? The two sides of managing antidepressants: A meta-ethnography of patients’ experience of antidepressants. Soc Sci Med. 2009;68(1):154–68.CrossRefPubMed
23.
Cohen D, McCubbin M, Collin J, et al. Medications as social phenomena. Health. 2001;5(4):441–69.
24.
Arroll B, Elley CR, Fishman T, et al. Antidepressants versus placebo for depression in primary care (Review). 2009;The Cochrane Library 3.
25.
Hollingworth SA, Burgess PM, Whiteford HA. Affective and anxiety disorders: Prevalence, treatment and antidepressant medication use. Aust NZ J Psychiatry. 2010;44(6):513–9.
26.
Pigott HE, Leventhal AM, Alter GS, Boen JJ. Efficacy and effectiveness of antidepressants: Current status of research. Psychother Psychosom. 2010;79:267–79.CrossRefPubMed
27.
Bet PM, Hugtenburg JG, Denninx BWJH, Hoogendyk WJG. Side effects of antidepressants during long term use in a naturalistic setting. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2013;23(11):1443–51.CrossRefPubMed
28.
Fava GA, Gatti A, Belaise C, Guidi J, Offidani E. Withdrawal symptoms after Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors: A systematic review. Psychother Psychosom. 2015;84:72–81.CrossRefPubMed
29.
Middleton H, Moncrieff J. ‘They won’t do any harm and might do some good’: Time to think again on the use of antidepressants. Br J Gen Pract. 2011;61:47–9.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
30.
31.
32.
33.
Braun V, Clarke V. Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual Res Psychol. 2006;3(2):77–101.CrossRef
34.
Lincoln YS, Guba EG. Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverly Hills: Sage; 1985.
35.
36.
Read J, Cartwright C, Gibson K. Adverse emotional and interpersonal effects reported by 1829 New Zealanders while taking antidepressants. Psychiatry Res. 2014;216(1):67–73.CrossRefPubMed
37.
Preskorn SH. The use of biomarkers in psychiatric research: How serotonin transporter occupancy explains the dose-response curves of SSRIs. J Psychiatr Pract. 2012;18:38–45.CrossRefPubMed
38.
Thase ME, Greenhouse JB, Frank E, Reynolds CF, Pilkonis PA, Hurley K, Grochocinski V, Kupfer DJ. Treatment of major depression with psychotherapy or psychotherapy-pharmacotherapy combinations. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1997;54:1009–15.CrossRefPubMed
39.
Exeter D, Robinson E, Wheeler A. Antidepressant dispensing trends in New Zealand between 2004 and 2007. Aust NZ J Psychiatry. 2009;43(12):1131–40.CrossRef
40.
Fricker RD, Schonlau M. Advantages and disadvantages of internet research surveys: Evidence from the literature. Field Methods. 2002;12(4):347–67.CrossRef
41.
Statistics New Zealand. Household use of information and communication technology – 2012. New Zealand: Wellington:Statistics; 2013.
Metadata
Title
‘In my life antidepressants have been…’: a qualitative analysis of users’ diverse experiences with antidepressants
Authors
Kerry Gibson
Claire Cartwright
John Read
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-016-0844-3

Other articles of this Issue 1/2016

BMC Psychiatry 1/2016 Go to the issue

Study protocol

Study protocol: a randomised controlled trial of cognitive remediation for a national cohort of forensic mental health patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder

Research article

Does emergency department use and post-visit physician care cluster geographically and temporally for adolescents who self-harm? A population-based 9-year retrospective cohort study from Alberta, Canada

Research article

Development and validation of clinical profiles of patients hospitalized due to behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia

Research article

Influence of premorbid BMI on clinical characteristics at presentation of adolescent girls with eating disorders

Research article

Detection of depression in low resource settings: validation of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and cultural concepts of distress in Nepal

Research article

Attachment to employment and education before work disability pension due to a mental disorder among young adults