A clinically depressed person may not be able to drag herself out of bed.
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In Brief
- In the past three generations, increasing numbers of Americans have been prescribed antidepressants. In many cases, such prescriptions are the only mental health care the patients receive.
- One cause of the rise in antidepressant use is that many doctors conflate conventional sadness—as from the loss of a loved one or a life-changing event such as a divorce—with the more serious and life-quashing condition of clinical depression.
- A second contributing factor, the author argues, is a change in the standard diagnostic guide, which caused many milder mental ailments to fall under the seemingly neutral label of “disorder.”
I am thinking of the Medicated Americans, those 11 percent of women and 5 percent of men who are taking antidepressants.
It is Sunday night. The Medicated American—let’s call her Julie, and let’s place her in Winterset, Iowa—is getting ready for bed. Monday morning and its attendant pressures—the rush to get out of the house, the long commute, the bustle of the office—loom. She opens the cabinet of the bathroom vanity, removes a medicine bottle and taps a pill into her palm. She fills a glass of water, places the colorful pill in her mouth and swallows. The little pill could be any one of 30 available drugs used as antidepressants—such as Prozac or Zoloft or Paxil or Celexa or Lexapro or Luvox or Buspar or Nardil or Elavil or Sinequan or Pamelor or Serzone or Desyrel or Norpramin or Tofranil or Adapin or Vivactil or Ludiomil or Endep or Parnate or Remeron. The pill makes a slight flutter as it passes down her throat.
This article was originally published with the title The Medicated Americans.
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48 Comments
Add CommentThere has been no major antidepressant medical breakthrough from the pharmceutical companies. The only FDA approved long term treatment option for depression is vagus nerve stimulation. For more information visit
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.vagusnervestimulation.com
This rise in antidepressant prescriptions coincides with the rise in people's inability to deal with their own problems. Previous generations toughed it out when work and family life got stressful. Hippies told us we are entitled to feel good about ourselves, and taught "self esteem" in school instead of reading, writing, and hard work.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have been taking Valium for many years. I cannot remember why/when the RX first given to me. Sadly/unfortunately, I've not questioned the RX,blindly refilling as yrs.p assed. I do have RA, HP, & Diabetes 2. I don't think I am depressed or 'hope-less'. I am presently involved in litigation re an unjust personal injury, but still not depressed, just angry/disgrubtled, etc. I am a hospital Chaplain and don't feel I could function in this capacity if depressed. So why have Dr. continuously refilled RX? I feel as if I am to blame since I never questioned until seeing this article. Had lab work done recently and techs were surprised at DX of depression. No one else has noticed that I had symptoms. What is wrong here? I think I am a charismatic clergyperson, relatively happy (some problems of course) but I am now seriously concerned re this DX. Should I change doctor? I am rather "chagrined at this point - not depressed!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs a Hospital Chaplain with primary concern regarding the eldery and the calvalier attitude by physicians to hand out mood altering drugs to so many of them without taking the time to "talk" or investigate the whys. Female elders are especially victims of this abuse. This is outrageous and shameful! I see too much of this as a Hospital Chaplain. What is the solution?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWe have so many facts, but know so little that's truly medically functional about the brain. Doctors prescribing psychoactive drugs know little more about their drugs' genuine effects on the brain than pushers on the street know about their own drugs' effects on their clients. But the bottomline motivation of the drug companies supplies docs with the empty wisdom and veneer of respect needed for our pushing these drugs as we do.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm surprised that only 5% of men are on mood-altering drugs. Haven't all the mass school shootings since Columbine been committed that 5%? Or the ones trying to quit. Those drugs seem as dangerous than alcohol, but where is the equivalent of AA? When these kids try to stop their parents and doctors from doping them, they're on their own. That's dangerous not only to them, but to the people around them.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agree with the content of this article. I believe that the taking of prescription antidepressants by the 'worried wealthy' is problem and is reflection of our society's approach to living.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFirst and foremost, I believe that our lifestyles have made us prone to be "down" from time to time. We rush here and there; we have more information coming at us than we know how to process; we're constantly reaching for the next car, house or whatever; and the list goes on. People begin to ask themselves, "Is this what it's all about?"
Second, and related to the first reason, is that our society believes that there is a quick fix for everything. If something is not quite to our liking, there must be something to buy that will make it better (i.e. a pill).
Last, while I don't want to paint the pharmaceutical companies as all bad, they have some responsibility in this matter. Sure the market has driven this demand, but the ethical considerations of marketing and selling a drug designed to change the way you think can't be ignored.
So what is the answer to this? In my opinion, it comes down to how people approach life. Sure, it can get complicated, but changing ones priorities and keeping perspective goes a long way with how we end up dealing things. In the end, people must realize that there will be some bad times in life and that for these situations, you just deal with it. To put it a little more plainly - buck up and quit your whining - life is difficult sometime. You need to have a little perseverance.
Sadly my personal experience folloed trhe arc of your story. During the pendnecy of my divorce I spent two years on Prozac. However, my attorney did more to resolve the situation than my doctor. Thoug It has been nearly fifteen years since I discontinue dthe use of Prozac I still suffer from the principal side effect it engendered - insomnia. I am much less redy to take professinal medical advice without questions these days.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf this issue was simple, it wouldn't be such a large issue. Depression is hard to define because it deals with the most complicated structure known to man, the brain. Researchers are tirelessly working on ways to combat mental illness. In the meantime, we have to accept that there's still a long way to go before we know how to treat or even diagnosis severe mental illness. Since the consequences of depression are so grave, e.g. amotivation, suicide, even murder, it should not be addressed casually, i.e. "get over it, you just have the blues." I think the good point of this article is that we need to find a way to accurately diagnose. But, it's complicated, since major depression can be a result of an accumulation of traumatic life events or because of genetic alterations. And, both affect each other. I think compassion is the most important virtue to have at this point- invalidating someone's emotional state is dangerous.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPsychiatry is a field that has advanced quite a bit since its beginnings. We do not have a handle on the etiology behind the diagnosis and there in lies the rationale for calling the diagnosis "disorders" as opposed to "diseases". A disease entails knowing what agent is causing it, a bacteria, a virus, perhaps even an enviornmental factor like smoke, etc. Unfortunaletly Psychiatry isn't there yet.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe current trend is to think of spychiatric diagnosis from the perspective of spectrum disorders; not only when referring to severity but also when thinking about the relationship between current diagnosis. Now, the DSM served the purpose of unifying concepts that would allow for better research as every person would under the same frame of reference when speaking about a particular disorder ( no matter how subjective the criteria were), and it was with this that new evidence and exciting research has been able to move the whole field further along. We have a better understanding of the neurophysiological events both normal and pathological; and although we still cannot say what is the precise etiology of disorders, we are moving to the development of treatment options ( both pharmacological and not) that better target the possible flaws in the underlaying mechanism.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJust to comment to all of the 'hike up your pants and get to work' folks that think that IS the cure for depression- I have successfully opened 4 independent businesses in my lifetime and failed a few times as well. I have been no stranger to hard work, risk, perseverance and the never-quit attitude. I Lost loved ones that are close had real good outcomes from my efforts and some not so good....Like most folks who call the earth home... Ups and downs. However, after years of just hiking up the pants and meeting the challenges head on....I found myself in a real depression...crying and all the other stuff (you can not figure it out at the time)...I'm talking crying and crazy with guilt, fear, lonliness---unwarranted no less----It was more than I could handle....and thank goodness for a loved one who encouraged me to go see a mental health professional. I would agree with the article on that point-one should see an expert in mental disorders and NOT simply the family doctor alone when faced with real depression. But I just want to warn--although we all can see the abuse of anti-depressants, not to mention most pharmacuticals, to just tell someone to 'tough it out' could be the final recommendation you give that friend or loved one. The outcome for me is that i visit with the mental health professional (Dr) about once every six weeks. He monitors things as any professional should... Sure I work on my 'life skills' and 'coping' skills and that is good...but for me, the antidpressant medicine under the care of a mental health professional, has probably saved my life. By the way, life still has its ups and downs.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou say that Depression was once considered a rare disease, but it's not even considered a disease now. The truth of the matter is that depression was once considered to be laziness, bashfulness, and any number of other useful terms that people used to explain something they didn't understand. It wasn't that long ago that mental illness was so stigmatized that a person would rather be called anything other than mentally ill. That stigma prevented people from seeking treatment, but that doesn't mean they didn't need treatment. I very well remember people referring to someone being on one of their spells, but no one ever suggested seeing a psychiatrist. That stigma has only started to fade in the last twenty or so years. I think that a better understanding of psychology has contributed to a change in attitude toward what is considered normal. So much has changed in all areas of life in the the last few generations, and I think these are contributing factors.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisVery good article that asks a basic tough question. I have several thoughts from reading it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOne is that a major driver for the pharmaceutical approach is the dirty little secret of psychiatry, namely, that there is, in populations, an inverse correlation between treatment and getting well. It's a tough problem. While [u]normal[/u] people in a rough patch do get [u]well[/u], seriously ill people don't. But psychiatry didn't help them.
Another thought is an observation that I made as an executive because of my reading in neurophysiology. There is a phenomenon in which hippocampus die-off occurs in people under stress for years on end. I began to nickname this [i]executive syndrome[/i] because I noticed that these guys who were hard-charging for years that finally made it to the executive suite mostly exhibited signs of hippocampus damage. Some of them I would call florid in their sometimes bizarre behavior rooted in just not taking things in. Their memories weren't so good, they would have trouble taking in new information., they would make decisions that weren't warrented by the data. Notably, hippocampus damage also primes people for depression if things don't go well, and I can tell you that there is a lot of depression in the executive ranks, but it's mostly secret.
So recently I read that Prozac stimulates nerve growth in the hippocampus. That made me think that maybe a segment of the population that should be taking Prozac or some other hippocampus restoration drug is people in the executive suite. Maybe we should be getting it to them more than the kids who are mostly just dealing with major hormones. Personally, I think [i]most[/i] of the drugging of children and teens is for the convenience of parents.
Last, I think that modern lives are much more stressful mentally than the lives people lived 100 years ago. The modern USA has had a near complete breakdown of community. Marriages don't last. Social rules are unclear. Entire professions bloom and then nearly disappear. Professional knowledge is measured in half-life years. Our parents expected to work for the same place for a lifetime. Who thinks that now except federal government employees? (And maybe not even them.) So I think we are under much more stress now than our parents, and certainly our grandparents. Our stresses are continuous, angst generating, and we face the world alone, or at best in a mated pair. This is [b]not[/b] how our ancestors lived.
I have suffered from major depressive order for nearly three decades. Most of that time I tried to deal with the problem myself and refused to bring the problem to a doctor or a psychologist. Many depressive males hate to admit to such problems. By the time I had a full scale nervous breakdown and was desperate to die, I finally sought medical treatment. I am currently on Effexor and without the drug I have massive mood swings and violent urges. While I would prefer to not have to be on meds, I am finding that it is helping to keep me regulated and sane.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe effect of Alprazolam on human brain is temporarily soothing. But it can have side effects. It can cause restlessness of legs if taken just before sleep. It can cause acidity if you take it and resist sleepiness for a long time. But the positive aspect is that it is not just a drug which copes with anxiety, it can make you look at this absurd life as something very positive!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs A mental Health profesional, Psychaitric APRN, I strongly disagree with the portrayal of Clinical Depression in this article. While it can be as severe as presented there is a spectrum of Clinical depression that meets criteria forthe diagnosis as noted in the DSMIV-TR. In addition not al moderate to severely depressed persons are seen as portrayed in this article. Some are functional in the job and go hoe to live lives of quiet desparation. I think that the idea of over medication witht eh use of antidepressants is an issue with gerneral practitioners the depth of the problem with depression cannot be over looked. The increasing stress in our society engenders depression and other disease wether we wnat to be aware of it or not. I would ask that you have another article that looks at this question from a more balanced viewpoint.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI thought that an article on SciAm.com would present a different or more in-depth viewpoint. Unfortunately, the article became ridiculous when it defined Depression as complete and total loss of all life-maintaining abilities, and little-d depression as, well, everything else.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat about everyone in between?
The article does briefly mention the disquieting fact that health insurers would rather pay for medication than therapy. Of course, it saves them thousands of dollars a year, if mental health services are even covered. Wow, that would have been an interesting angle for the article to take.
Finally, I must admit that I am replying as one of the Medicated Americans. Knowing that I have a family history of depression (including suicide), I finally went to the doctor and got on an SSRI when I was barely able to function at work, and barely able to take care of my child the rest of the time. Sure I was able to shower and drive to work, but all I could do was stare at the computer. At home, I curled up in bed all weekend, crying for no reason. Why wait until I was on a feeding tube?
I think this article does a disservice to those for whom it seeks to advocate.
Incredibly irresponsible article. I am a 7th year pharmacy student from Portland, Oregon. We understand that after about 2 years of continual SSRi therapy, a process known as neuronal sprouting begins. This term describes a process in which serotonergic neurons regrow in particular areas of the brain which display transmission deficits in depressed people. Americans, like everyone else, find themselves functioning in an increasingly demanding and stressful world. Cortisol is produced in response to stress and it is responsible for destroying seritonergic nerve endings in these critical areas of the brain that are dysfunctional in a person with depression. Decreased neuronal transmission is the physiological cause of depression in a vast majority of people. Therefore, SSRi's represent an actual physical cure for depression. Please retract your article and do society a favor; Spend some time doing some real research next time. If your having trouble, try asking an expert.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI really enjoyed this article, as I do believe the DSM-IV diagnosis is too vague. Depression is a spectrum disorder in my belief and therefore one blanket treatment is not adequate. Maybe hiking up your pants will not work for clinically depressed individual but non-theless why is there more depression evident in developed western society than in poor third world impoverished countries? Depression diagnosis is the luxury of the wealthy the westernised the dissaffected. Is not unhappiness part of the human condition from time to time? I say hurray for this article.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnyone seriously concerned with the issues raised in this article would be wise to read Peter Kramer's rebuttal of the half-facts and biased conclusions in this article. See:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.slate.com/id/2184073/
I don't know what to think about this article. Living in Germany, I can't tell if Americans tend to take antidepressants to simply cope with tough stretches in life, but limiting depression to the most severe cases the author calls big D Depression doesn't help either.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI had been some way down that lane around 1990 when I thought professional help. Prozac wasn't available in Germany then, so I got classical psychotherapy. It was something like "hitch up your pants", but the therapist showed me new ways to do that, ways that neither I nor my friends had thought of before. It was a new way to look at life, a new set of values that helps me to live well in times of stress. I need no medication. Had I been given Prozac or something similar, I would probably still be on drugs.
So I do agree with the criticism of quick anti-depressant prescriptions, but reject the idea that disease has to be severe before treatment begins.
I think your article is right on point. These days normal unhappiness is considered a mental illness here in the US and SSRI's are recommended for any disappointment in life, divorce, loss of loved one, loss of job, etc. in spite of the fact that serious health problems result from discontinuing ssri's as all of the medical community admitted after the NIU shootings, and despite the fact that serious side effects of taking the drugs include suicide and violence to others, problems not associated with the healing process of learning to deal with living problems without drugs.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEarly reports say that the man who just open fired on several families in a Florida Wendy's may also have been on prescription anti-depressants.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHas anyone done a study of the link between all these mass murders and anti-depressants? If not, why not? I want to know what these people were being prescribed, and why. That information is important and should be public knowledge, so doctors and patients know what they are risking with each prescription.
After 25 years as a licensed clinical social worker, I agree with the article. Psychiatrists do what psychiatrists are trained to do, prescribe. And way too often with minimal, if any, contact with the person. Follow up is rare, especially, if money is a problem. I can spend hours telling personal stories supportive of the article. We must remember, this is first about business with all the flaws of any other business. It's about selling my skills/product. The human tendency to slant the truth towards my "sale" is clearly visable.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this> Has anyone done a study of the link between all these mass murders and anti-depressants? If not, why not? I want to know what these people were being prescribed, and why. That information is important and should be public knowledge, so doctors and patients know what they are risking with each prescription.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe why is easy. First, as long as nothing is official, the manufacturers can't be sued. Second, there is no way to get data except by having it roll in from the field. Third, a finding of causation would make the author highly unpopular and the target of attack from other scientists with ties to that industry. So, it's strategically bad for business, it's very difficult and could jeopardize one's career. Why would anyone do that to themselves?
Here are my hypotheses that I formed when that guy killed a bunch of people in Atlanta. It turned out he had probably murdered his ex-wife for the insurance money. I suspect that when a person with sociopathic tendencies takes antidepressants that it can make them worse. This is much like what happens with sociopaths who get therapy - it doesn't help them, it makes them better sociopaths. Such people are totally self-centered and believe the world exists to serve their needs, period. They get mad and righteously angry when it doesn't.
When someone who is exercising sociopathic tendencies (note that media and video games are celebratory of sociopathic tendencies) becomes depressed, it is because they feel thwarted in their self-centeredness. On rare occasions it may be that they aren't total sociopaths, and they actually do have a conscience. (Like the guy who probably murdered his wife for the insurance money.) If this kind of extraordinary depression gets "fixed" the person is liberated to do their worst.
Another way of putting this is that sometimes, depression has a biological purpose that is valid. For most, no. But for some, it does. In the end, perhaps we will have to weigh the cost versus benefit. Is it worth it to help the huge numbers of people in modern society with clinical depression at the cost of losing a few innocent lives when some few sociopaths act out because they feel better?
This article is dreadfully off base, and might result in those who especially need treatment for depression to not seek it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCiting statistics from WWI doesn't take into account the woeful ignorance of mental health medicine at that time. Today, thankfully, those with mental health challenges are more likely to ask for help because medicine is more enlightened and more likely to have wide public understanding.
Obviously the world began in 1910. Otherwise the author would have known about Laudanum, which was very widely used in the 1800s and early 1900s. Then there is the whole tracking of suicide rates being non existant for most of history. While I agree that modern medicine tends to over react and misdiagnose due to "illness fads", it is clear that he is trying to sell an idea by slanting his data. The real issue here is; should you trust the doctor or pharmaceutical company? The answer is no. You should never trust any company or business. People make mistakes. Others are just plain rotten. It's called being human.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's all about boredom, to be bored of life...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis "article" is like one of those children's-magazines puzzles -- how many idiocies can YOU spot? Too many to ennumerate, since I have carpel-tunnel syndrome. (Which is real, although diagnosis of it has also risen precipitously. That doesn't mean something's a fake disease, really it doesn't. Quite often it means it's gotten more prevalent and/or people know it better for what it is.)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSigh. I can't help pointing out the most egregiously stupid assumption in this opinion, though, which is that people are obedient puppets who'll keep taking anything a doctor offers even after they've noticed it's not helping their mood but is causing a lot of annoying side effects, like inability to have an orgasm.
To the author -- you are not unique in not being a mindless puppet. Truth.
(Yes, if a substance is innately and notably addictive, people can fall into such compulsions despite recognizing that they feel worse, not better. Do not start smoking; be careful about stimulants generally.
This is all making me very depressed. I thought I was feeling better on my medication, but now I realize I'm not. sigh
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSNRI (serotonin, noradrenaline-reuptake inhibitor) has recently been used to reduce oncogenic pain.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHuman mind networks requires at least 3 kinds of neurotransmitters; adrenaline, serotonin and dopamine.
It deserves a great "side-effect" to increase the number of diseases which some drug is useful for treatment.
However, we have to always keep in mind that, the more wide-ranged the use of some drug is, the more frequently physical or mental dependence occurs.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am a highly educated and practical psychiatrist. I've worked over 70 hours a week for 25 years caring for very ill patients. I am ashamed of Scientific American for promulgating this piece. What this author doesn't know, what perspective he lacks, is astounding. Scott Gleditsch MD
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisPrior to SSRIs people self medicated with Alcohol and marijuana. Many articles on SSRI portray them as terribly dangerous drugs, but they have a safety profile far better than alcohol which the population in the USA abuse on regular basis. The reason that the use of SSRIs is increasing is because doctor are treating the milder cases of depression, which were usually masked by alcohol and drug abuse. And it is the milder cases of depression that best benefit from SSRIs. Currently the clinical based diagnostic of depression is causing and fueling the controversy. If an imaging based diagnostic system is invented then that will silence all criticism that SSRIs are over-prescribed.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisan excellent article .,long overdue .
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisin addition Spitzer,s work has done great damage to the concept of sound clinical diagnosis
I wrote along similar lines to The New Yorker when the rather inferior piece about the DSM IV appeared
This article is very one-sided.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is the tip of the iceberg. As a nurse I see fragile elderly given way too many psych drugs, even very heavy duty ones, to make other people feel better about seeing their normal sadness at leaving their independence and youth. The side effects cause the prescribing of more and more supporting drugs for stomachs and headaches and the like until their pill cups overflow!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDid you know that, the woman that pushed her car in a lake ,with her children still in a car seat ...was on prozac. Did you know that the woman that cut the arms off her infant, than dialed 911, was on prozac. DId you know that the lady, that chased her children around her house than drowned them all one at a time. ....was on .......prozac. I can go on all day. On the bottle of prozac, you are warned about the suicidal and homicidal tendencies of this mind altering drug. Are we going the wrong direction, and trying to make multi-billion dollar companies like pfizer....even more rich, by not regulating properly the drugs that we consume. Who do you think, finances the under budgeted and understaffed FDA. I am not against moderen medacine. I just think we are going to far to fast . We need to slow down .
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere is nothing wrong with the way Scientific american handled this. You people with the big brains the knowledge. the ones that know better, need to educate us...like me, the ones that do not know. Scientific american writes there articles in a way that getts peoples hearts pumping and blood boiling. If they write articles in a way that you EDUCATED and big brains can only read and understand. What good is it to the rest of us. Remember the sole purpose of scientific American, I believe is to educate the public, get different opinions....and to see how the more educated feel and think on the subjects at hand. There is no stupid question, ....only stupid and self centered remarks.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have type 2 diabetes after many years of lorazepam[ it is like long acting valium]. I got off it recently and I lost a lot of weight --I am sure that it caused weight gain and the diabetes -- I no longer have high blood sugar now that I am off the pills. Please take a vacation and wean yourself off it!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am 20 years old. I use lexapro for two months i must say great anxiety and depression are gone. I found Lexapro online on google i must say great medicine also for young people.Lexapro help me
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.antidepressantscomparison.com
I am 20 years old. I use lexapro for two months i must say great anxiety and depression are gone. I found Lexapro online on google i must say great medicine also for young people.Lexapro help me http://www.antidepressantscomparison.com
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYour comments are extremely ignorant. Do you people even know what a real depression is? These drugs saved my life more than once and for those of you who think that one should just 'suck it up' i say to go get educated on the matter!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYep blame it on "hippies".... That reasoning is absurd. Drugs have always been around and people have always taken them.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wish physicians would educate more on how important a well balanced diet and exersise is for mental well being. I suppose though there wouldn't be much money to be made if this were the case. I know their are severe mental illness thet warrant treatment with ssri's and what not, but physicians are generally way to quick to push a pill to someone when what they really need to push is the fundamentals of healthy living. Or i think physicians should atleast do a little more digging when trying to diagnose someone and really look into their daily activities and life style and see what foods they eat regularely and whether or not they need to up their activity level. I'll say this and i believe alot of people can relate, but i know i tend to get down very quick if i don't get enough physical activity in a day. I get very sad and irritable by the end of the day if i haven't done something productive and something active, and the majority of people i know who are depressed and stressed (and yes i know a few), aren't very active and/or have diets that consist of microwavable processed food, not enough fresh foods or homecooked meals, skipped meals, to much sugar, to high of an intake of empty calories, yadda yadda you get my point. Think of the correlation of when obesity and said depression started escalating at a significant rate in america. Being sedentary is not good. I wish my doc would have stressed the importance of that to me rather then putting me on paxil after just 15 min of talking with me and having me fill out a questionare of 12 sx, before prescribing/sending me on my merry way. I was only 16, and that stuff had very undesirable s/e; i swear it turned me into a sociopath for the time i was on it. My whole family could have been mutilated in front of my eyes for example and i don't think it would have bothered me. Sadly i'm not being dramatic when i say that. Now i exercise and eat healthier, and i'm better off. I have a stressful job (pushing pulls to dementia patients) and it does get to me but more so if i don't take care of myslelf and after working where i work i have a lesser opinion then i used to of physicians and pharmaceutical companies. It would appear to be more often then not all about money then the actual needs or best interest of the patient.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI must warn you from personal experience. You have "protracted benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome" look this up in the internet. It is a new diagnosis first established in Britain. It is a very serious condition and it takes 12 to 18 months to successfully withdraw from the Valium, especially given how long you have taken it. Good luck to you. Dr. RLS
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLets use Ockhams razor here; if more people are taking antidepressants maybe it means more people are actually depressed - ie have a chronically lowered mood that interferes with the ability to carry on normal life tasks.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI don't think it is really due to raised expectations or some kind of selfish demand to be happy all the time. Anti-depressants don't make you happy - they allow you to carry on functioning. And if the people who were taking them were hedonists, why would they stick with them for years despite the major side effect being sexual dysfunction?
I think the question we ought to be asking is - why the epidemic of depression? What does it say about our society? Or - are we missing something of the aetiology of depression completely? We used to say peptic ulcers were due to stress only to discover H. pylori.
As for the 'buck up and quit your whining' comment - if you were a medical doctor and said that to ANY patient presenting with lowered mood - you would (and should) be sued. Plus it would be cruel and most unhelpful to say that to anyone even if they are just sad - lost your mother? 'buck up and quit your whining' - third miscarriage in a row? 'buck up and quit your whining' - acrimonious divorce? 'buck up and quit your whining' lost your job? have a sense of pointlessness to your existence? - you get my drift. Maybe its this sort of cavalier and casual cruelty that contributes to a sense of pointlessness that leads to depression....