A comparative study of antidepressant treatments in a New Zealand psychiatric hospital

Abstract

The antidepressant treatments currently used in New Zealand psychiatric hospitals are discussed in length. In addition to this, a potential antidepressant treatment; 'aerobics exercise' is discussed. A comparative experiment was carried out to assess the difference, if any, between the above antidepressant groups; 40 depressed female patients were randomly assigned to four different groups, with equal numbers in each group. Results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between groups over a 21 day period. The results are discussed and the conclusion reached was that if these treatments were equivalent then criteria for selecting one type of treatment over another should depend on the treatment which places the patient at least risk.