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Comment by mahathu | Hacker News Reader

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here -- antidepressants don't really have an effect. If a person was feeling suicidal before, they would certainly not stop feeling this way after taking SSRIs. Symptoms of depression is our psyche showing us that something going on in our lives is not going well, and using drugs to suppress these feelings is the worst thing I can think of that modern medicine came up with.

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As someone who has taken SSRIs they usually do have effects. You can take them as a healthy person and they also have usually effects.

There is more diversity to people and their thoughts than your simple philosophy suggests; people may suffer from mental illnesses for no apparent reason, like how people may suffer from poor health in the same environment as a healthy person. And with antidepressants on a person with a condition stemming from a poor lifestyle, the effects can be what makes the difference that helps them transition to a more sustainable lifestyle.

Ignorant, grandiose claims like these really don't help people suffering from mental illnesses.

My understanding of the research is that, compared to a placebo, antidepressants help as much as 20% more of the population (20% -> 40%), and the broader scope of drugs can help around 30% to 40%[1] of people. People routinely feel suicidal, take SSRIs, and later stop feeling suicidal.

[1] https://youtu.be/NOAgplgTxfc?t=2294

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