Placebo in mood disorders: the tail that wags the dog

摘要

Purpose of review Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials have become the standard for evaluating new mood disorder treatments. This model has been criticized as being unethical for including placebo, as well as being prone to high rates of failure for established treatments because of a large placebo response. Recent findings In the presence of so many marketed antidepressants, some medical ethicists contend that new antidepressants should be compared with old antidepressants, without using placebo. Others contend that placebo response is large, variable, and unpredictable. As part of this debate, the scope of research and new ideas are being infused into placebo research. Summary Caution is warranted before excluding placebo from mood disorder research, and new research is underway to define and assess placebo response in mood disorders.