More than three quarters of the people being treated for major depression feel their illness isn't under complete control and more than half of those who have ever had side effects stopped using their antidepressant because of the side effects, a new study revealed. Depression is more disabling than many other chronic diseases and more complicated to treat because there is no equivalent to a blood test to determine if a patient is getting better. The survey involved interviews with 1,001 patients and nearly 900 primary care physicians. The gap is most prominent with sexual side effects and weight gain, two side effects that physicians acknowledge as very common, but ones that most patients rarely link to their antidepressant. To compound this problem, these two topics are difficult for people to bring up with physicians in general.
Patients believe they have to tolerate side effects unnecessarily when other options exist.
This raises questions about how often patients withhold concerns or experiences with side effects from physicians, and whether physicians consistently monitor the impact of treatment side effects throughout the duration of therapy 4. Patients may feel discouraged about raising side effect concerns with physicians. Side effects lead to serious forms of non-compliance. Patients are not offered the chance to participate in treatment decisions. This can best be achieved when physicians and patients talk more fully and openly throughout the course of treatment, and make changes or adjustments in antidepressant treatments tailored to each patient's needs.