Can long-term treatment with antidepressants contribute to a chronic depressive syndrome? Yes, say some experts. The term tardive dysphoria is now used to describe just such a process.

With rates of depression increasing and the well-documented knowledge that antidepressants provide poor clinical benefits to people with mild-to-moderate depression, the prospect of antidepressants worsening the course of depression over time is concerning. Here are some of the key issues informing the debate: