Placebo effects and antidepressant medication: implications for research and clinical care

Research on the effectiveness of psychiatric treatments, both psychological and somatic, must control for nonspecific effects that may bias the results. Studies of antidepressant medications are complicated by the nonspecific effects of prescribed medications and patients' expectations of the medication, that is, placebo effects. This paper will review aspects of the placebo effect as it relates to research and clinical care.