Several of my psychotherapy patients with very significant medical problems have complained both about this TV ad and wedbsite and about doctors' increasingly dismissing their complaints as "just depression." They expressed reluctance and/or regret about sharing with their physicians that they are seeing a psychotherapist. After seeing the TV ad for the first time tonight, I clicked on the website and have to admit I was so sickened that I couldn't read the whole thing. There is a picture of a spine with the claim that depression causes neck and back pain. (Excuse me, I think it's the other way around). The site is essentially an ad for Cymbalta. This ad campaign is downright hurtful to all of my patients as well as to all of us. It is why doctors dismiss valid complaints and an excuse for insurance defense lawyers to claim you're not really in pain, you're "just" depressed.

I checked out this website also, and thought the same thing re pain causing depression, vs. the other way around (at least much of the time). Was also pretty ticked off about the lure of the website in terms of advertising for Cymbalta. Might be a good medication for right patient population but I think that this is just bad advertising in terms of the website..

Brilliant marketing -- at its worst?! It's ashame that the stereotype of hypochondria is being continued in this manner. Ethics?! What's that?!

http://adrsupport.org/groupee_common...s/icon_mad.gif