Wariness of drug treatment after an F.D.A. warning.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/03/opinion/teenagers-medication-and-suicide.html
As someone whose life was significantly improved (and probably even saved) by antidepressants, it breaks my heart that these warnings are still turning off parents.
I do remember starting my anti-depressants in the mid-2000s and my parents getting a long lecture on what to look for that might point to me taking a downward turn, but it never turned them off to the idea.
Why are so many young people on antidepressants in the first place? What are we doing wrong as a society. Because this is not normal.
(Not just young people. I’ve heard people say that lots of Moms are on them too. What are we doing wrong?)
I think that before safe, effective antidepressants, more people were depressed. If that’s ok with you, then don’t take them!
Liked that the article pointed out an issue with seeing the family doctor or GP, as they really son’s have time in that 10 minute appointment slot to do the kind of doctoring it takes to prescribe and adjust psychiatric meds. Always see a shrink or mental health ARNP.
I don’t take them. I’m older so I’ve been around awhile and experienced a few things. This is not my experience with the former generations at all. I’ve known a lot of older people and “most of them” weren’t depressed. Geez, these people lived through the Depression. They were grateful for what they had.
In my sample of one (not myself, can’t be objective), my dad was grumpy and unhappy all the time, for years. Add Lexapro and he wasn’t. He grew up during the Depression but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t use modern medicine.
Cannot seem to edit here. Did not intend to redirect into previous generations but it is worth noting that they managed without them. At any rate, I would like to know why a huge percentage of young people are on antidepressants They all have side effects. There are black box warnings on SSRI’s today.
3/4 of the time at a recent orientation meeting was devoted to how to handle your meds and the role of the nurse. (No meds here. Could not believe that was so important and required so much time).
My question is always WHY are things as they are, and what are we doing to create this scenario, and no one seems interested in that in most venues, it seems.
TranquilMind, I hope beyond hope that you never, ever have a family member that has Depression (or any mental illness of the sort). It is exactly that “suck it up and deal” attitude that you’re conveying which causes shame and self-blame among those of us with mental illness.
By the way, my area of research is the history of medicine- currently, specializing in mental illness. You know why you didn’t see people with depression in the “good ole days”? Because when people couldn’t “cope” with the outside world, they were thrown into institutions and forgotten about. Or they were “treated” with barbaric treatments which left them so much worse off that they WISHED depression (or insert other ailment here) was the only thing they had to deal with.
How do we know what is “normal”? One of the big reasons more people are on ADs (in my opinion) is not because more of us are depressed, but because depression no longer has the severe stigma that it once did and so people are more willing to seek treatment. In the past, many people just lived with it (and found ways to cope, like beating their spouse, or alcohol abuse, or suicide, or any number of destructive behaviors).
Diversion, Romani. It is irrelevant whether I know people who have been prescribed these things. Aren’t you remotely interested in WHY all these kids are on pharmaceuticals? I think that is a really important question, but then I come from a tradition of solving problems if at all possible, instead of medicating them for temporary relief.
And yes, I’ve been through some crazy things to solve some health problems, but goodness, they worked (Thinking primarily about the most miserable “month long” Detox from hell that took me 36 hours. Never had the digestive problem again they were going to medicate and it has been 10 years).
And baloney. There weren’t huge groups from the population thrown into mental hospitals and forgotten, though it did occur. Nothing on the scale of the kids using these drugs today. Why so many? What are we doing? Is it the food supply that has been altered, or what?
TV4, a Mayo Clinic study (from 2009) found that nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription
drug. SEVENTY PERCENT! Most prescribed were antibiotics, pain killers and antidepressants.
Do you think that seems rational? Of course it was at the time a $250 BILLION dollar business - now $300 billion, just 6 years later.
I think we need to change some things if 70 percent of Americans live on prescription drugs. Some people need to, like type 1 diabetics or those without thyroids, but otherwise, we are doing something very wrong.
As someone who is currently taking an SSRI, I can honestly say I don’t believe I’d be here today posting this if it weren’t for my medication. Several years ago I was severely depressed, suffering from anxiety attacks and feeling as though I had no future. Now I am applying to some of the greatest schools around me, working my dream job, and graduating from the top of my class. Treating my illness and accepting it for what is was has helped me to completely turn my life around and change everything for me. Depression is an illness and it really blows my mind to see all the stigma that still surrounds it to this day.
I believe that the reason more and more people are taking these drugs is because of the greater awareness and acceptance of the medical approach to treatment. Many people do not want to admit they have a mental illness because of the stigma associated with it, but as awareness and education increase I believe more people are willing to accept their illness and treat it.
Visit http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/ac/06/transcripts/2006-4272t1-part2.pdf and search for “Hanna” to read my testimony before the FDA on this topic.
Wow, Hanna, thank you for that.
Extremely powerful, Hanna, and unfortunately all too relate-able for thousands and thousands of young people (and more). Thank you for sharing.
@TranquilMind I can see a problem with the article’s logic. The author says correlation does not equal causation an then goes on to say that the drop in prescriptions is probably from the black box warning. I also wonder if other causes shouldn’t be investigated. For instance, for a while there, it seemed like we were looking at depression as a disease we could treat with drugs alone (like strep throat) and perhaps when we discovered treatment is not a simple as taking a pill (for most people), prescriptions dropped. There are many factors that could be playing into the decline. Perhaps off-label use has declined. I was prescribed Effexor for the night sweats and sleeplessness associated with being a woman of a certain age. OMG, didn’t last 2 weeks on those (awful side effects). Perhaps… Anyway, I do understand some skepticism with the article’s conclusions.
However, in my personal life, for a family member who needed those drugs, the black box label made NO DIFFERENCE whatsoever. Really? Anti-depressants might cause suicidal thoughts? Depression might cause them, too. How could you possibly know the the cause is the drug or the disease? It’s really kind of a dumb warning.
As for “not normal,” I have friend who says normal is just a setting on your dryer
We might as well ask, why do we have such high rates of cancer, or migraines or broken bones?
We are interested in optimal health, sometimes optimal health includes paradoxically, taking medications.
Much better IMO, to be treated for a condition, whether it be chronic or acute, than to ignore it.
Love it.
Interview with the author:
http://www.wnyc.org/story/what-parents-should-know-about-campus-suicides/