Dr. Rhonda Barofsky

We had them do a seven-item mood scale, seven negative feelings, a rate each from zero to 100, how you're feeling right now. And so most of them were pretty high at the beginning of the beta test, like, you know, 30, 40, 50, some of them in the 80 or 90, you know, super severe range. And then ask them, where do you think your score is going to be at the end of the beta test?

We had them do a seven-item mood scale, seven negative feelings, a rate each from zero to 100, how you're feeling right now. And so most of them were pretty high at the beginning of the beta test, like, you know, 30, 40, 50, some of them in the 80 or 90, you know, super severe range. And then ask them, where do you think your score is going to be at the end of the beta test?

And this was a four-week beta test. And they made predictions that were quite different from the way they were feeling at the beginning. Like someone might have been a 60 on guilt on 0 to 100 and predict he'd end up with a 15 on guilt. And the predictions were so accurate, it looked like somebody faked the data.

And this was a four-week beta test. And they made predictions that were quite different from the way they were feeling at the beginning. Like someone might have been a 60 on guilt on 0 to 100 and predict he'd end up with a 15 on guilt. And the predictions were so accurate, it looked like somebody faked the data.

Like the actual was within a point or point and a half of the predictions for the group. Like the mean, say, was 14.5 on gilt at the end, and they had predicted 14.0. It was that close on all seven negative feelings.

Like the actual was within a point or point and a half of the predictions for the group. Like the mean, say, was 14.5 on gilt at the end, and they had predicted 14.0. It was that close on all seven negative feelings.

It was really, I've never seen data like that before. It was one of the most striking research studies I think I've ever encountered in my whole career. And so this family may have had the idea, oh, man, we're taking this Prozac, which we had in the 1970s. We were one of the first groups to get it at Penn. It was called Lily 11-014-0. It was an experimental drug.

It was really, I've never seen data like that before. It was one of the most striking research studies I think I've ever encountered in my whole career. And so this family may have had the idea, oh, man, we're taking this Prozac, which we had in the 1970s. We were one of the first groups to get it at Penn. It was called Lily 11-014-0. It was an experimental drug.

And we've got this powerful Prozac and this is going to really change our son's life. And there's been all kinds of research on antidepressants and teenagers and showing that they don't have other than a placebo effect. But that placebo effect, the family may have thought, wow, this is really going to help our son. And now things are changing. Now they're acting like everything's changing.

And we've got this powerful Prozac and this is going to really change our son's life. And there's been all kinds of research on antidepressants and teenagers and showing that they don't have other than a placebo effect. But that placebo effect, the family may have thought, wow, this is really going to help our son. And now things are changing. Now they're acting like everything's changing.

and believing it, and then suddenly things change. So a lot of times our own expectations are operating on us in more powerful ways than what we're aware, and we go attributing changes that we're bringing about ourselves to external factors, like some pill or medication that we're taking. I just thought it was interesting.

and believing it, and then suddenly things change. So a lot of times our own expectations are operating on us in more powerful ways than what we're aware, and we go attributing changes that we're bringing about ourselves to external factors, like some pill or medication that we're taking. I just thought it was interesting.

So at any rate, thank you, guys.

So at any rate, thank you, guys.

No, it wasn't when it came out. When it came out, the publisher told me the day it was published, my editor, that the company had made a decision not to support it because the president of the company had decided it had no commercial potential. No one would want to read a long book on depression. And so it limped along for eight years, and I kept trying to get on local shows or whatever I could.

No, it wasn't when it came out. When it came out, the publisher told me the day it was published, my editor, that the company had made a decision not to support it because the president of the company had decided it had no commercial potential. No one would want to read a long book on depression. And so it limped along for eight years, and I kept trying to get on local shows or whatever I could.

And it was really difficult because I didn't know about marketing. But I got on a show in, I think, Cleveland, Ohio, the Morning Exchange. And a woman who used to do my typing, Mary Lovell, maybe I told this story already, but she said the way to publicize your book is take any publicity you can get and always write a thank you letter to the person who got you on that show or media interview.

And it was really difficult because I didn't know about marketing. But I got on a show in, I think, Cleveland, Ohio, the Morning Exchange. And a woman who used to do my typing, Mary Lovell, maybe I told this story already, but she said the way to publicize your book is take any publicity you can get and always write a thank you letter to the person who got you on that show or media interview.

And so this was a morning show in Cleveland, and so it was...

And so this was a morning show in Cleveland, and so it was...