According to CNN news recently - Antidepressants are the MOST prescribed medication in America and used more widely than in any other country.
Anyone have any ideas why? I am curious to know what YOU think.
Antidepressants are the MOST prescribed medication in America....
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Guest
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Guest
My opinion is we were given a range of emotions and that included happy, sad, depressed, anxious. All emotions!! and sometimes people would rather get on a pill than experience the bad ones. For some people who experience them more severe it is appropriate to perscribe but I dont think it is always appropriate for less severe cases. Just my opinion.
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Guest
Hi Sunset!
I can give an opinion, but that is all it will be - just an opinion. No real fact implied.
It could be that a great many doctors just don't want to take time and effort to listen to a patient. It may be much easier for them (and lucrative) to prescribe a pill and send them on their way.
It might take a great deal of time to search out all the reasons why a person might be having depression. And it might not always be the doctor's fault either. Sometimes the patient might not have the means to have the doctor look at everything. (The time or the money).
So perhaps the doctor and the patient may want to take the shortest, less expensive route to a feeling of well being for the patient.
Depression and Anxiety are rather complex to treat.
It would seem that both the patient and the doctor want a quick fix to this disorder.
Thus the millions of prescriptions for the anti=depressants.
But I have another opinion .....
My mom got depression before the pills were formulated. There was NO HELP.
And so she progressed into mental illness. I think that she suffered a lot.
Therefore, I can't just call these medicines evil. Because they have blessed so many people.
Antidepressants were such a blessing! But like everything else, they can be misused.
I suppose that is what I think. But I get confused a lot by it all anyway.
I think they are more a blessing than a curse.
I have to be thankful for them - but tread carefully with their use.
MaryJane
I can give an opinion, but that is all it will be - just an opinion. No real fact implied.
It could be that a great many doctors just don't want to take time and effort to listen to a patient. It may be much easier for them (and lucrative) to prescribe a pill and send them on their way.
It might take a great deal of time to search out all the reasons why a person might be having depression. And it might not always be the doctor's fault either. Sometimes the patient might not have the means to have the doctor look at everything. (The time or the money).
So perhaps the doctor and the patient may want to take the shortest, less expensive route to a feeling of well being for the patient.
Depression and Anxiety are rather complex to treat.
It would seem that both the patient and the doctor want a quick fix to this disorder.
Thus the millions of prescriptions for the anti=depressants.
But I have another opinion .....
My mom got depression before the pills were formulated. There was NO HELP.
And so she progressed into mental illness. I think that she suffered a lot.
Therefore, I can't just call these medicines evil. Because they have blessed so many people.
Antidepressants were such a blessing! But like everything else, they can be misused.
I suppose that is what I think. But I get confused a lot by it all anyway.
I think they are more a blessing than a curse.
I have to be thankful for them - but tread carefully with their use.
MaryJane
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Yellow Rose Of Tx
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Sat May 12, 2007 4:57 pm
I find all your answers very interesting. 
Cornflower,
At one time, depression was considered a rare condition.
In the article I read one of the quotes really stood out to me..."Doctors are now medicating unhappiness," said Dworkin. "Too many people take drugs when they really need to be making changes in their lives."
You can find the full article here:
CNN Antidepressant Article
There is also another article that gives great insight on why they are the most prescribed drug. http://health.howstuffworks.co...cribed.htm/printable
Of course, I believe anti-depressants have their place here in this world but my opinion is that they are more overprescribed than anything.
Our world has definately changed.
Cornflower,
At one time, depression was considered a rare condition.
In the article I read one of the quotes really stood out to me..."Doctors are now medicating unhappiness," said Dworkin. "Too many people take drugs when they really need to be making changes in their lives."
You can find the full article here:
CNN Antidepressant Article
There is also another article that gives great insight on why they are the most prescribed drug. http://health.howstuffworks.co...cribed.htm/printable
Of course, I believe anti-depressants have their place here in this world but my opinion is that they are more overprescribed than anything.
Our world has definately changed.