Did a Scientific Study Make Major Depression Disappear?

Only if you believe a boatload of authors waving magic wands and chanting mystical voodoo incantations

I credit a Substack article by Awab Aftab for calling my attention to a preprint that warrants a series of Substack articles. The preprint is an excellent teaching example of what is wrong with current practices by which authors conduct scientific research and publish their interpretation of results in the safety of a strongly supportive inbred group that guards against the robust critique and independent pre- and post-publication review of its members’ papers. In contrast. my readers are self-selected for skepticism and their interest in honing their skills for critical appraisal of evidence. Many will conclude that I am doing a public service, even if the authors of this pre-print are not enthusiastic about being in the spotlight. Hopefully, when my series of Substack articles winds down, these authors will begrudgingly agree that I have provided them a valuable incentive to acknowledge past mistakes and do things differently. That is how robust criticism is supposed to work in Am…