Irving Kirsch: The Emperor's New Drugs
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN points to it in discussions of antidepressant efficacy, the serotonin model and the power of placebos.
What it is
Psychologist Irving Kirsch gives a distinguished lecture on antidepressant trials and the placebo effect. He argues drug-placebo differences are small outside severe depression.
Recommended by 2 HN commenters across 2 different months, 2015 to 2019.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec leekyle333 · 2018-10 · on “FDA approves new drug to treat influenza”
If you're ever board and you want to watch something on placebos I highly recommend watching this lecture by Dr. Irving Kirsch. Placebos are pretty nuts and probably really undervalued. [this video]
Recommends q3PG23XiQKpZqpU · 2019-05 · on “The Troubled History of Psychiatry”
Since here we are talking about placebo, I wonder if it has a meaning to say "placebo" when speaking about psychotherapy, since there is no "substance". Of course there is going to be a placebo effect as long as people think it's going to work. I think the point is that since in mild and moderate depression we have to choose between the placebo of a drug and the placebo of psychoterapy, let's choose the one with less side effects. On the topic of placebo, I found Irving Kirsch's talk about anti-depressants vs placebo in depression [1] very interesting. [1] [this video]
Cites lingben · 2015-01 · on “Treat Depression with the Fisher Wallace Stimulator?”
> Stimulates the Brain to Produce Serotonin except that the serotonin model of depression has been disproven without a shadow of a doubt: [this video] the device may have some effect as placebo but if that's what you're going for, there are many other cheaper alternatives
Cites shkkmo · 2015-01 · on “Treat Depression with the Fisher Wallace Stimulator?”
Having just watched the linked video, it sounds like there is only a clinically (as opposed to statistically) significant difference between SSRI's and placebos for the extreme end of severe depression. One of the interesting points the speak made was: The difference in response recovery rate between studies where the patients know they will receive an anti-depressant (drug vs. drug) and studies where they know they may recieve a placebo (drug vs. placebo) is bigger than the difference in recovery rate between drug and placebo. He then points out that due to side effects, patients are fairly reliably able to determine whether they are on a placebo or on an anti-depressant. When discussing th