Open AccessThe Wisdom of Crowds (Vox Populi) and Antidepressant Use
Author(s) -
Scott B. Patten
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.692
H-Index - 48
ISSN - 1745-0179
DOI - 10.2174/1745017901511010001
Subject(s) - phenomenon , crowds , phrase , antidepressant , statement (logic) , psychology , medicine , computer security , political science , psychiatry , computer science , epistemology , law , philosophy , artificial intelligence , anxiety
Under certain conditions, groups of people may (collectively) make better judgments than experts. Galton connected this phenomenon to the phrase vox populi in a 1907 paper. Arguably, an example of the phenomenon may be found in recent stabilization of the frequency of antidepressant use, following decades of increases. There is no evidence that a change in physi-cian behaviour has caused this stabilization. The stable frequency more likely reflects decisions made by thousands of individual people based on their personal experiences. This may provide a statement from the vox populi on an optimal frequency of antidepressant use in contemporary populations under current conditions, a topic that has eluded the consensus of experts.