Millions of Britons taking antidepressants have been ‘sold a myth’, warns leading expert

Millions of people have been wrongly told depression is caused by low levels of ‘happy hormones’ in the brain, a leading psychiatrist has claimed. Professor Joanna Moncrieff says the “chemical imbalance” explanation given to generations of patients is a myth - and antidepressants do not work by correcting a proven fault in the brain. Instead, she argues, the drugs may relieve distress by numbing people’s emotions, dulling happiness, excitement, love and sexual feelings as well as sadness and anx