Antidepressant Effects with Dr. Mark Horowitz

Behind the Stigma

In this week's episode, I speak with psychiatrist, Dr. Mark Horowitz, on the Effects of Antidepressants.

We discuss how depression is currently understood in society - taking a step back from diagnostic categories. We also discuss what is truly known about the causality and mechanisms of depression, and the effects antidepressants have on our psychological well being and our physical body.
Dr. Horowitz speaks about safely tapering off antidepressants and its withdrawal impacts, based on his recent appearance in the BBC's panorama documentary. Finally, we talk about the future of research and empirical evidence in the field, and the right way to move forward. (Chapter Markers are added).
About
Dr. Horowitz is a trained psychiatrist, having done part of his training in Australia and is now working in London as a Clinical Research Fellow in the NHS and an Honorary Clinical Research Fellow at UCL. He has completed his PhD in the neurobiology of depression and the pharmacology of antidepressants at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London. During his PhD he received two prizes from the British Association of Psychopharmacology, one for his PhD work, and one for public communication.

Website: https://markhorowitz.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/markhoro
Papers: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33224468/
BBC Panorama Documentary: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001n39z

Chapter

1. How depression is defined in society (00:02:03)

2. Covid 19, Mechanisms of SSRI's (00:14:58)

3. Process of prescription in medical practice (00:22:00)

4. Main side effects of antidepressants (00:29:49)

5. Withdrawal symptoms (00:36:21)

6. The patient voice (00:44:15)

7. How do you bridge the gap of medical practice & the public? (00:45:00)

8. Balance of harms & benefits (00:53:21)

9. The divide in the field of psychiatrists (00:59:26)

10. Safely tapering off antidepressants (01:03:50)

11. Future research & empirical evidence (01:09:33)