The doctor-patient relationship is critical to the placebo effect.

- Irving Kirsch

Depression is not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, and it is not cured by medication. Depression may not even be an illness at all. Often…

- Irving Kirsch

I do a lot of research on the placebo effect, not just in depression but in irritable bowel syndrome, pain, arthritis of the knee, migraine, asthma.

- Irving Kirsch

Depression is a serious problem, but drugs are not the answer. In the long run, psychotherapy is both cheaper and more effective, even for very serio…

- Irving Kirsch

Depression comes back over time in about 90 percent of people on antidepressants. Studies show that relapses are far less common when people are trea…

- Irving Kirsch

Antidepressants can have troubling side effects and are addictive for some people.

- Irving Kirsch

Anything that instills a sense of hope will at least temporarily help treat depression.

- Irving Kirsch

Psychotherapy works, and some types of therapy have been shown to be much more effective than antidepressants over the long run.

- Irving Kirsch

There are a variety of techniques to help people change the kind of thinking that leads them to become depressed. These techniques are called cogniti…

- Irving Kirsch