Depression: towards the end of the reign of antidepressants? – Le Figaro

By Anne PrigentPublished yesterday at 4:53 PM, Updated yesterday at 11:37 PM In the minds of the public like many doctors, the misunderstanding of serotonin deficiency compensated by medication persists. Ievgen Chabanov/motortion – stock.adobe.comDECRYPTION – Long presented as “the pills of happiness”, these drugs are far from being a panacea and do not benefit all patients. “Florence Foresti, comedian. 45 years old and 20 on antidepressants.” This is how the favorite humorist of the French presents himself in the autofiction Désordres, currently broadcast on Canal +. Among his medications, there is probably a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). It is indeed the most prescribed class of antidepressants all over the world. SSRIs increase the concentration of serotonin, this neurotransmitter which allows communication between neurons and is often presented as the “hormone of happiness”. Developed in the 1990s, led by fluoxetine (Prozac), SSRIs quickly supplanted older antidepressants because they are better tolerated. But their effectiveness and the relevance of their prescription to a very large public are regularly questioned. This summer, the debate was revived following the publication of two new studies: one undermining the biological mechanism of the disease, and the another tackling efficiency… This article is for subscribers only. You have 84% left to discover. Pushing back the limits of science is also freedom. Continue reading your article for €0.99 for the first month Already a subscriber? Login