What is treatment resistant depression and perhaps more importantly, what does it say about the ineffective care many receive?
Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is defined as major depressive disorder (MDD) that fails to respond to at least 2 anti-depressant medications.
Nearly 10% of the adult population in the U.S. experience a major depressive episode each year. The numbers in our youth are even more alarming with some studies suggesting that between 40-50% of college-aged students are living with depression.
While anti-depressant medications tend to be the first-line treatment for MDD, as Dr. Georgia Ede highlights, “it’s more common not to respond to standard antidepressants than it is to respond to them.”
This makes TRD the “norm”, but the name itself is misleading.
It doesn’t mean your brain is broken or that you’ve run out of options. In fact, it says more about the limits of our current standard of treatments than about you.
In this first episode of a three-part series, cardiologist Dr. Bret Scher sits down with Harvard-trained psychiatrist @GeorgiaEdeMD to unpack what treatment-resistant depression really means, why it’s more common than most people think, and why the term can be so harmful.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
How depression is diagnosed
The surprising prevalence of TRD
Why antidepressants often fail to deliver lasting relief
The biological factors (from inflammation to metabolic dysfunction) that may be driving MDD
The importance of broadening the treatment toolbox beyond medication
If you or someone you love has been labeled with “treatment-resistant” depression, this conversation is an important reminder: there are other options to explore, and more importantly, there is hope.
Be on the lookout for episode 2 of this 3-part TRD series, where Dr. Scher and Dr. Ede cover alternative treatments and cutting-edge therapies including neurostimulation, psychedelic-assisted therapy, and metabolic interventions that could offer new hope.
About us: Metabolic Mind is a non-profit initiative of Baszucki Group working to transform the study and treatment of mental disorders by exploring the connection between metabolism and brain health. We leverage the science of metabolic psychiatry and personal stories to offer education, community, and hope to people struggling with mental health challenges and those who care for them.
Our channel is for informational purposes only. We are not providing individual or group medical or healthcare advice nor establishing a provider-patient relationship. Many of the interventions we discuss can have dramatic or potentially dangerous effects if done without proper supervision. Consult your healthcare provider before changing your lifestyle or medications.
Timestamps:
0:00 – Introduction to the Treatment-Resistant Depression series with Dr. Georgia Ede.
2:45 – What is treatment-resistant depression (TRD)?
3:45 – What are major depressive disorder symptoms?
5:30 – What are the standard treatments for TRD and major depressive disorder?
7:57 – When a patient isn’t experience relief, what should be the next approach for treatment?
/ georgiaedemd
