In a recently published network meta-analysis of antidepressants, the authors broke from usual academic modesty and concluded with a “hope that these results will assist in shared decision making between patients, carers, and their clinicians”.1 It was suggested in a newspaper article that the findings might close the longstanding, and often polarised, debate over the value of antidepressants.2 Predictably, the debate was re-ignited and a mini-media storm ensued. Now, as the dust begins to settle, it is time to consider how the findings fit with our existing knowledge and whether the results should change clinical practice.

The review’s primary outcome measure of efficacy was the response rate, based on the number of patients …