Irving Kirsch

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

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

“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.”

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

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

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