Antidepressants and the Placebo Effect-Free-Samples for Students

Question: Write a report on Placebo Effect. Answer: In response to placebo effect, I would like to say that the magnitude of placebo effect depends on various factors for example the conditions which is being treated. It is mentioned that according to Irving Kirsch, effectiveness of placebo effect of anti-depressant and sugar pill is critically insignificant. However, according to Kirsch (2013), substantial placebo effect have been detected in the treatment of depression and irritable bowel syndrome. But the effectiveness of placebo effect is not visualised in hyperglycemia, bacterial infection, infertility or common cold. Basically the term placebo and its affect over any particular disease varies largely under the consideration that how it is being applied. Kirsch (2013), has stated in his paper that in Parkinson's disease, the effect of placebo pills is insignificant in comparison to placebo surgery. In case of antidepressant, all the available antidepressants seem to be equally effective and the difference between the drug and the placebo is not significant clinically but holds significance in terms of statistical analysis (Kirsch 2015). Now this again leads to the generation of one obvious question that what do all the active anti-depressant drugs have common in them that make their effect on mental depression slightly but significant statistically, in comparison to placebo? The explanation provided by Krisch (2015), stated that the clinical trials conducted to ascertain the placebo effect of the anti-depressant drugs are not always strictly double blind. This is because the majority of the patients realize that they have been provided with the real drug rather than the placebo because of the associated side-effects of the drugs. This self-realization among the patients creates a barrier towards the generation of significant placebo effect in the use anti-depression. References Kirsch, I., 2013. The placebo effect revisited: Lessons learned to date.Complementary Therapies in Medicine,21(2), pp.102-104. Kirsch, I., 2015. Antidepressants and the placebo effect.Zeitschrift fr Psychologie