Ineffective Antidepressents

In the article entitled "Health Year in Review: 2008" I found the comments on the ineffectiveness of antidepressents very interesting. In today's market you will see dozens of commercials for various medications treating similar cases of "depression." As the article says, these medications often encompass a larger spectrum of illness than just "depression." I have always found it interesting - the need for medication to treat the natural human condition of sadness, and I wonder if these medications are in reality just fabricated ideas. The fact that many of these medications are equally as effective as placebos only prove that it is really the thought behind the medication, rather than the medication which treats our illness. If this is true, which it seems to be, then why risk dependence on a medication just to treat something you can change yourself by thinking in a different way. Most of these medications have side effects that do not justify taking them for a condition such as sadness.
All of this leads to another question, one which the article proposes indiscretely. This is, why are the results of these studies skewed to show even negative results in a positive light? The answer is obvious: money. It is difficult to discern which studies are biased, and which aren't, especially when advertisements cite them simply as "clinical studies." Doctors don't perform background checks as they are receiving funding from the drug representatives, and unfortunately for the patient, a doctor's word is law in his office. Often times people will not properly question what it is they are taking, but will follow a commercial, or their doctor; one of which is paid for by the drug company, and the other of which is paid by the drug company. The drug companies also use those studies which benefit them most, and lock up those that don't in order to sell a better product. This is why the "Paxil study 329" had to wait for legal prompting in order to be released.
The power of the drug companies is often underestimated by the normal consumer, and if unchecked misdiagnosis is both logical and inevitable. As companies promote the selling of their product by offering monatary incentive, doctors will keep peddling their product. Unfortunately for us - a race set on feeling sorry for ourselves - "depression" is an extremely easy sickness to sell. Everyone feels sad, but doesn't want to, and if the doctor tells us this can be cured by taking a pill we are likely to listen.