This article is taken from the monthly magazine. Science and Future No. 955, dated September 2026.
Treating depression in five days rather than several weeks: this prospect, long unimaginable, is beginning to take shape. A potential revolution for an illness whose management has relied, for more than half a century, on slow-acting antidepressants. The shadow of depression, however, continues to grow. In 2023, severe forms of this mental illness affected 236 million people worldwide, more than double the number in 1990., according to a comprehensive overview of mental health published this year in The Lancet. However, current treatments are showing their limitations. They often require daily administration for several months, frequently cause side effects (decreased libido, sleep disturbances, chronic fatigue, etc.), and leave nearly a third of patients in a therapeutic dead end: their depression is resistant to available treatments. As for their effectiveness, it remains a subject of debate.
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