BOSTON -- A new report has been released about depression, a common condition that affects about 50 million Americans. As NewsCenter 5's Heather Unruh reported, it shows antidepressants may have little or no benefit for people with mild or moderate depression.

When you walk down the street about one in 10 people is living with depression. Many are treated with antidepressants. Philip Beach, of Boston, Mass., is one of them. Beach tried countless medications before he found one that helped.

"It made me want to get out of bed. It made me want to do things," Beach said.

But a new analysis of studies, published in the new Journal of the American Medical Association, shows antidepressants had minimal, or even non-existent benefit for people with mild or moderate depression.

"The medications weren't doing much more than the placebo was. For patients at the higher end of severity the medications had a very potent effect," said Jay C. Fournier, a psychologist with the University of Pennsylvania.

"Studies of this sort have several limitations and have to be taken with caution," said Dr. David Mischoulon, who works for the psychiatry department for Massachusetts General Hospital.

Mischoulon said the study is not telling us the whole story. He points out that the study analyzed six published studies, and two drugs, Paxil and Imipramine.

"So therefore the results may not be generalizeable to all antidepressants. There's at least two dozen antidepressants on the market," Mischoulon said.

And doctors we spoke with agree, these medications can work really well for some people -- but it can take some time before a patient figures out which one is best for them.