Researchers compared the efficacy of antidepressant drugs with generic counselling for the treatment of mild to moderate depression in general practice. A randomised controlled trial, with patient preference arms, was conducted. In total, 52 patients were randomised to counselling and 51 to antidepressant drugs, with 140 recruited to the counselling and 80 to the antidepressant preference arms.1 The outcome measures included the Beck depression inventory score at one year follow-up. No differences were reported in Beck scores between the randomised arms or patient preference groups. Patients who chose counselling did better than those who were randomised to it. Which of the following statements, if any, are true?