Impact of brand-name drug worship and expectation psychology on antidepressant efficacy

The choice of the generic drug is reasonable if there is evidence for its therapeutic equivalence with the brand-name drug. However, the reduced effectiveness of switching from brand-name drug to generic drug is not rare. The impact of brand-name worship and expectation psychology on drug efficacy is noteworthy to report. A 45-year-old woman suffered from depression mood disorder. She experienced profound improvement in her depressive symptoms after a switch from domestic generic venlafaxine to imported brand-name counterpart. The interview showed that the woman has a strong brand-name drug worship and expectation psychology, which is representative, typical and popular in China especially in vast rural areas. Medication education does not work too much. The brand-name drug worship and expectation psychology might improve drug efficacy when patient is switched from generic drug to branded medication.