Top 21 Quotes & Sayings by Irving Kirsch

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American educator Irving Kirsch.

Last updated on November 8, 2024.

Irving Kirsch is Associate Director of the Program in Placebo Studies and a lecturer in medicine at the Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is also professor emeritus of psychology at the Universities of Hull and Plymouth in the United Kingdom, and the University of Connecticut in the United States. Kirsch is a leading researcher within the field of placebo studies who is noted for his work on placebo effects, antidepressants, expectancy, and hypnosis. He is the originator of response expectancy theory, and his analyses of clinical trials of antidepressants have influenced official treatment guidelines in the United Kingdom. He is the author of the 2009 book, The Emperor's New Drugs.

American - Educator | Born: March 7, 1943

Source: Wikipedia

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

Irving Kirsch

The big bulk of the response to antidepressants is the placebo response.

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 cognitive behavioral therapy.

Irving Kirsch

Patients who trust their doctors and have a psychological expectation of getting better could trigger a reaction in their body.

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

There seem to be many causes of depression. One cause is profound loss, grief. Economic hardship we know is linked to depression. We don't have a full picture.

Irving Kirsch

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

Irving Kirsch

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

Irving Kirsch

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

Irving Kirsch

There seems little reason to prescribe anti-depressant medication to any but the most severely depressed patients.

Irving Kirsch

Perhaps 10 percent of patients who are prescribed antidepressants are really benefiting from the drugs' active ingredients.

Irving Kirsch

The one thing we do know is that the chemical imbalance theory - the theory that people get depressed when they don't have enough serotonin in their brain - we know that that's wrong.

Irving Kirsch

Nocebos often cause a physical effect, but it's not a physically produced effect. What's the cause? In many cases, it's an unanswered question.

Irving Kirsch

To someone who is not currently on anti-depressants, I would suggest trying other treatments first - for example, psychotherapy.

Irving Kirsch

Perhaps anti-depressants should be best reserved for the very extreme cases and, more importantly, for those who do not respond to alternative forms of interventions.

Irving Kirsch

If you're taking an antidepressant, it's working, and you're not experiencing side effects, go on taking it. But if it's not working, or not working well enough, or if you have side effects you don't like, talk to your doctor about an alternative approach.

Irving Kirsch

If doctors just spent more time with their patients so they felt more reassured, that might help.

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

One problem I have with drug companies is that they don't make all their data public.

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 serious levels of depression. Physical exercise and self-help books based on CBT can also be useful, either alone or in combination with therapy. Reducing social and economic inequality would also reduce the incidence of depression.

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, it can be a normal reaction to abnormal situations. Poverty, unemployment, and the loss of loved ones can make people depressed, and these social and situational causes of depression cannot be changed by drugs.

Irving Kirsch

Top 21 Quotes & Sayings by Irving Kirsch

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