Washington (SmartAboutHealth) - According to a new study released this week, antidepressants are most effective in cases where those being treated have extremely severe cases of depression.

The new study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, and focused on individuals who had various levels of depression.

The whole idea behind the study was to see how effective antidepressant drugs were on the different types of depression, and whom they worked best on.

They would test the antidepressants on those with mild or moderate cases of depression, and compare them with patients given a placebo.

They then did the same tests for those who had severe cases of depression.

What they found was that those with mild or moderate cases of depression were no better off on antidepressants than on a placebo.

On the other hand, those who had severe cases of depression were said to benefit greatly from the drugs.

This is rather interesting to say the least as it could mean that these drugs are being over-prescribed for those who do not have severe cases of depression.

Rather than taking antidepressants, doctors and other health-care providers may want to seek alternative treatment methods.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.