CMV: Antidepressants violate the principle of informed consent because they are often not effective and are often used to placate difficult and non-compliant patients.

A psychiatrist will often violate informed consent in regards to antidepressants by not explaining to the patient how effective they are *for that particular patient*, how long it takes to find an effective medicine, how long it takes to find an effective dose, or what the side effects will be. <br><br>Often a patient will see a psychiatrist with a mental health problem, and be prescribed an antidepressant, and the prescription will last 90 days. This can be repeated for months or even years, with the patient seeing the psychiatrist for 15 minutes every 90 days, and the doctor doing nothing more than a cursory check in about how the patient feels, and then writing another 90-day prescription. <br><br>The doctor may do little more than try different antidepressants, different doses of antidepressants, and different combinations of antidepressants in order to find something that works for that particular patient. This process can take years. It is common for antidepressants to have very serious side effects. Informed consent is violated when a patient is not explained the potential years-long scope of their treatment program, and may be written prescriptions for months or even years at a time without being regularly checked in with.<br><br>Very often, patients are written these prescriptions for no other reason than they inconvenienced the doctor with their questions. Primary care doctors will refer patients to psychiatrists and the patients will wear black and refuse to look the doctor's way, or otherwise be completely non-compliant. The psychiatrist will punish the patient with "treatment" by writing them a years-long prescription for an ineffective medicine that has tiresome and serious side effects. <br><br>The principle of informed consent is violated because very often, doctors will violate the patient's autonomy and instead of giving them what they need (which is often what they ask for), the doctor will often write them a prescription for an ineffective antidepressant in order to placate the patient, or as a form of punishment for the patient's non-compliance.<br><br>To change my view, please demonstrate that a patient is truly given full information about the scope of their treatment program, the effectiveness of the treatment program, the effectiveness of the treatment program as it applies to them, and the potential side effects of the treatment program.