Citation

Jacobs DH, Cohen D. J. Mind Behav. 2010; 31(1/2).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Institute of Mind and Behavior)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This afterword extends and refines the arguments presented in Cohen and Jacobs (2010). The main point made by the authors is that the antidepressant randomized controlled trial world is a make-believe world in which researchers act as if a bona fide medical experiment is being conducted. From the assumed existence of the “disorder” and the assumed homogeneity of the treatment groups, through the validity of rating scales and the meaning of their scores, to the presentations of researchers’ ratings as the genuine outcome of interest — all aspects of such trials are make-believe. The continued acceptance of randomized controlled trials as appropriate mechanisms to ascertain the actual effects of psychoactive drugs on human beings in distress confirms that researchers are inextricably dependent on large-scale organizational and financial interests that require the sustained production of make-believe results about psychoactive drugs.