What Andrew Scull has said about Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

1 quote · 1 episode · Sep 17, 2026

Andrew Scull, British-American sociologist and historian of psychiatry, emeritus professor at UC San Diego, has been quoted on Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors once in 1 episode of Lex Fridman Podcast, most recently on September 17, 2026. Each quote below is verbatim and links to the moment it was said.

In their words

Scull argues antidepressants beat placebo statistically but often not to a clinically meaningful degree.
“for most patients, antidepressants are marginally better. the placebo, but a lot of the effect is the placebo effect”
Lex Fridman Podcast: #502 – Psychiatry, Insane Asylums, Mental Illness, ECT, Lobotomies, Freud & Jung (Sep 17, 2026) · Listen from 3:30:08

Episodes

#502 – Psychiatry, Insane Asylums, Mental Illness, ECT, Lobotomies, Freud & Jung
Lex Fridman Podcast · Sep 17, 2026
Historian Andrew Scull talks with Lex Fridman about the history of psychiatry, from asylums, eugenics, lobotomy and ECT to Freud, CBT, psychiatric drugs and psychiatry's current crisis.

Others on Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

Marcus King · 3 quotes
Joe Rogan · 2 quotes
Mayim Bialik · 1 quote
Shawn Ryan · 1 quote
Tara Suwinyattichaiporn · 1 quote

Andrew Scull on other topics

Electroconvulsive therapy · 2 quotes
Psychiatric hospital · 2 quotes
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders · 2 quotes
Antipsychotic · 2 quotes
Cognitive behavioral therapy · 1 quote
Insulin shock therapy · 1 quote
Focal infection theory · 1 quote
Aktion T4 · 1 quote