SSRIs

From Action Potential, the Nature Neuroscience blog, there's a post on SSRIs and their effectiveness.

If the placebos are only marginally less effective than SSRIs, might we use placebos to wean individuals off a drug? There is, of course, the fact that SSRIs actually block the receptors, but placebos might do wonders for the psychological aspects of the problem - there is, after all, a mental component to illness - if you're more optimistic about dealing with an illness, you're more likely to get better (this decreases in more severe illnesses, but stress takes a toll on the body).

One of the comments also mentioned Chantix, an antismoking drug. Chantix works on the nicotinic receptors and blocks them, which is why I think this drug will actually work - because it does things to the reward pathway.

Whee, drugs.

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