One in five still think antidepressants harmful - ■ Michael Woodhead - 6Minutes
There has been a drop in the number of people who believe antidepressants may be harmful in depression, but this view is still held by one in five Australians.
A national survey (link) of more than 2000 Australian adults carried out in 2011 found that about 20% believed that antidepressants would be harmful for a person who is depressed, while 16% believed that antidepressants would be harmful for a person who is depressed and has suicidal thoughts.
Negative perceptions of antidepressant medications were most common among men and
among people from non-English speaking backgrounds, according to researchers from the Orygen Youth Health Research Centre at the University of Melbourne.
Writing in the Journal of Affective Disorders, they say belief in the harmfulness of antidepressants appears to have fallen since the last survey was carried out in 2004, when about 25% of people had negative views about the medications. The change to a more positive attitude was most noticeable among younger people and people with lower levels of
education.
People with negative views about depression tended to have had less exposure to depression and be less likely to recognise it, they found. Such people also tended to have negative views about all treatments for depression, and they also had overly optimistic views about depression and the possibility of overcoming the illness without professional help.
