ArticleBMC psychiatry2016
'In my life antidepressants have been…': a qualitative analysis of users' diverse experiences with antidepressants.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Qualitative Study of the Treatment Experiences of Autistic Adults Allocated to Sertraline or Placebo for Anxiety in a Blinded Randomised Controlled Trial.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Optimising Weight Management Advice for Adults Prescribed Antidepressants: A Qualitative Interview Study of Experiences.International journal of mental health nursing · 2025Article
- The lived experience of withdrawal from Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants: A qualitative interview study.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Article
- Making psychiatry moral again: the role of psychiatry in patient moral development.Journal of medical ethics · 2023Article
- Antidepressants: A content analysis of healthcare providers' tweets.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2023Article
- Experience of antidepressant use and discontinuation: A qualitative synthesis of the evidence.Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing · 2023Review
- User Perspectives on Professional Support and Service Use During Psychiatric Medication Discontinuation.Community mental health journal · 2022Article
- Parents' satisfaction with information received on psychotropic drugs used by adolescents in a Mental Health Unit.Revista paulista de pediatria : orgao oficial da Sociedade de Pediatria de Sao Paulo · 2022Article
- Priorities for future research on reducing and stopping psychiatric medicines using a James Lind Alliance priority setting partnership: The PROTECT study protocol.HRB open research · 2022Article
- The Medication Experience: A Concept Analysis.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Use of sequence analysis for classifying individual antidepressant trajectories to monitor population mental health.BMC psychiatry · 2020Article
- Meaning and medication: a thematic analysis of depressed adolescents' views and experiences of SSRI antidepressants alongside psychological therapies.BMC psychiatry · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWhile mental health professionals have focused on concerns about whether antidepressants work on a neurochemical level it is important to understand the meaning this medication holds in the lives of people who use it. This study explores diversity in the experience of antidepressant users.
methodsOne thousand seven hundred forty-seven New Zealand antidepressant users responded to an open-ended question about their experience of antidepressants. This was analysed using content and thematic analysis.
resultsThere was considerable diversity in participants' responses including positive (54 %), negative (16 %) and mixed (28 %) experiences with antidepressants. Those with positive experiences saw antidepressants as a necessary treatment for a 'disease', a life saver, a way of meeting social obligations, dealing with difficult circumstances or a stepping stone to further help. Negative themes described antidepressants as being ineffective, having unbearable side effects, undermining emotional authenticity, masking real problems and reducing the experience of control. Mixed experience themes showed how participants weighed up the unpleasant side effects against the benefits, felt calmer but less like themselves, struggled to find the one or dosage and felt stuck with continuing on antidepressants when they wished to stop.
conclusionsMental health professions need to recognize that antidepressants are not a 'one size fits all' solution.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.