[Correspondence] A fundamental change is needed for appraising placebo responses in psychiatry

In the Alpha-Stim Anxiety Insomnia and Depression cranial electrotherapy stimulation trial, Richard Morriss and colleagues reported no significant difference in their primary depression outcome between active and sham groups.1 Although not the headline of the article, 41% of recruited patients who received sham stimulation had remission of their depression. This remarkable result adds to the growing list of neurotechnology trials in psychiatry demonstrating very large responses in their placebo arms.