Perhaps 10 percent of patients who are prescribed antidepressants are really benefiting from the drugs' active ingredients.

Patients who trust their doctors and have a psychological expectation of getting better could trigger a reaction in their body.

Perhaps anti-depressants should be best reserved for the very extreme cases and, more importantly, for those who do not respond to alternative forms of interventions.

If doctors just spent more time with their patients so they felt more reassured, that might help.

There seems little reason to prescribe anti-depressant medication to any but the most severely depressed patients.

Depression comes back over time in about 90 percent of people on antidepressants. Studies show that relapses are far less common when people are treated with psychotherapy.