CDC: Antidepressants most prescribed drugs in U.S.

[firefox_fan]

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Dr. Ronald Dworkin tells the story of a woman who didn't like the way her husband was handling the family finances. She wanted to start keeping the books herself but didn't want to insult her husband. The doctor suggested she try an antidepressant to make herself feel better.

She got the antidepressant, and she did feel better, said Dr. Dworkin, a Maryland anesthesiologist and senior fellow at Washington's Hudson Institute, who told the story in his book "Artificial Unhappiness: The Dark Side of the New Happy Class." But in the meantime, Dworkin says, the woman's husband led the family into financial ruin.

"Doctors are now medicating unhappiness," said Dworkin. "Too many people take drugs when they really need to be making changes in their lives."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/09/antidepressants/index.html

[Manifestor_of_Light]

1. What if you're healthy and you live in a sick society? n/t

[lovuian]

21. Sick Society how true that is

how very true

[depakid]

2. With all of the disease mongering going on in America

stories like these shouldn't surprise anyone....

Then again- CNN isn't citing what I'd consider a credible source on this issue.

"Dr. Dworkin, a Maryland anesthesiologist and senior fellow at Washington's Hudson Institute...."

From their website: In 1998, he was Ellen Sauerbrey’s (R) senior health policy advisor during her gubernatorial campaign and chairman of her health policy task force.

http://www.hudson.org/learn/index.cfm?fuseaction=staff_bio&eid=DworRona

More on the Hudson Institute:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Institute

(Now you see why CNN likes to cite them as "experts"

[firefox_fan]

5. I think this is in large part created by drug companies.

They need to sell their drugs, as many as possible. Influential psychiatrists are on their boards and have shares in the company. And voila, more kids with problems, more adults with problems. In many cases, the diagnosis is iffy.

[depakid]

10. In the US, TV commericials drive demand

and shape how people "see themselves" and how they view conditions they may (or may not) have- and what the proper courses of treatment should be.

That's much less the case in other Western nations (that aren't stupid enough to direct to consumer ads- and have much tighter rules on physician conflicts of interest).

[undeterred]

3. I have a friend who was having pain in his side

and two doctors told him he was depressed and offered him anti-depressants. He was feeling a little depressed, but it was because of the pain, and he resisted this diagnosis. A third doctor told him he needed a hip replacement.

Thats a HUGE thing to miss.

[firefox_fan]

6. Wow. Why an antidepressant and not a pain killer?

[undeterred]

12. Stupidity, I guess

I think you practically have to diagnose yourself sometimes.

And if you don't know what's wrong, thats pretty hard.

Right now I have a pinched nerve that goes from my shoulder to my index finger. Also numbness and tingling. Definitely related to too much lifting. I went to an urgent care center and they gave me motrin plus something stronger, and instructions to alternate between hot and cold packs. Two weeks later the pain is not improved at all. I don't know where to go next. Not back to the same place. But it isn't any better at all.

[AndyA]

4. With people like Bush/Cheney/Rice/Gonzalez in the White House,

it's hard to NOT be depressed in Bushmurika.

What America needs is a good does of IMPEACHMENT. Nothing like that to clean out the ole system!

[tnlefty]

16. Hear, hear!!!

And the remedy is Impeachment...Gonzo first, then onto Cheney, then Dimson**! :thumbsup:

[Nikki Stone1]

7. How many school shooters have been, like Va. Tech's Cho, on anti-depressants?

Just curious.

[kenny blankenship]

8. And they said civilization had its discontents!

If life in the USA is the answer, could we please have the problem back?

[no_hypocrisy]

9. In the 70s the ads in medical journals addressed this very issue.

You'd see a middle-aged to elderly woman talking to her doctor in obvious emotional distress and the doctor looking distracted in response. The ad's message was it takes 5 seconds to write a prescription for anti-depressant versus devoting 50 minutes to listen to a woman's drivel. Aside from the obvious misogyny, it pushed pills where they weren't necessarily needed.

[nonconformist]

11. I know a couple of people who had to stop taking antidepressants

Because it made them not care about ANYTHING anymore.

[firefox_fan]

14. Exactly... Think about those air pilots on anti-depressants... Hmmm.

[tech3149]

13. Thanks but no thanks, I self-medicate

My $12.00 bottle of vodka will beat your $3.00/pill SSRI. As I told my psych a few years ago "sometimes you are depressed because you have a reason to be depressed".

[firefox_fan]

15. Funny, I got a ZOLOFT ad on top of my page when I checked back on this thread

Now I'm depressed.

[Edweird]

17. Shut the Fuck Up, by Doctor Denis Leary. A revolutionary new form of therapy

Everybody comes from a dysfunctional family all of the sudden, huh? Rosanne Barr comes from a dysfunctional family? Not Rosanne! She seems so normal to me! The Jacksons were dysfunctional!? Not the Jacksons! These people give each other new heads for Christmas for Christ's sake!

I am sick and tired of hearing that fucking speech. You know? These people come out of rehab they always have the same story. "Well you know, I became an alcoholic because my parents didn't love me enough. And then I became a junkie because my parents didn't love me enough. And I went into hypnosis and therapy and I found out that parents used to hit me." Hey! My parents used to beat the living shit out of me! Ok? And looking back on it, I'm glad they did! And I'm looking forward to beating the shit out of my kids, aren't you? For no reason whatsoever. *thbbt* "What'd you hit me for?" "Shutup and get out there and mow the lawn for Christs sake!" There's therapy for ya! Mowing the lawn and crying at the same time. "The Leary kids in therapy again. Their lawn looks great, it's unbelieveable!"

God.. "I'm just not happy. I'm just not happy. I'm just not happy because my life didn't turn out the way I thought it would." Hey! Join the fucking club, ok!? I thought I was going to be the starting center fielder for the Boston Red Socks. Life sucks, get a fucking helmet, allright?! "I'm not happy. I'm not happy." Nobody's happy, ok!? Happiness comes in small doses folks. It's a cigarette, or a chocolate cookie, or a five second orgasm. That's it, ok! You cum, you eat the cookie, you smoke the butt, you go to sleep, you get up in the morning and go to fucking work, ok!? That is it! End of fucking list! "I'm just not happy." Shut the fuck up, allright? That's the name of my new book, "Shut the Fuck Up, by Doctor Denis Leary. A revolutionary new form of therapy." I'm gonna have my patients come in. "Doctor, I.." "Shut the fuck up, next!" "I don't feel so.." "Shut the fuck up, next!" "He made me feel so much better about myself, you know? He just told me to shut the fuck up and nobody had ever told me that before. I feel so much better now." Whining fucking maggots.

This is Dennis Leary from "No Cure For Cancer"
No disrespect to the op intended.

[firefox_fan]

18. Problem is, babt boomers have totally spoiles their kids...

And now they cannot deal with anything in life. Only whine.

[maxsolomon]

19. and my psychiatrist won't write me a scrip

he says i don't need it.

its not fair! i'm just as crazy as anyone. :crazy:

[BlooInBloo]

20. Well then you're crazy for NOT being crazy!

[SoCalDem]

22. Not surprised.. even VETS give them to pets

and pediatricians give them to kids..EVERY slice of society seems to be on them..:eyes:

How much nicer it would be to treat the problem..not the symptom..

[TZ]

23. For some people SSRI's are treating the problem

There are some who have true chemical imbalances in the brain that these anti-depressants are fixing (levels of dopamine,etc).
I have a relative who would be DEAD by his own hand without these meds. Lets not forget that some people genuinely need them.
That being said, they are being overprescibed in many cases, but not all.
Oh and as for the people like Cho as someone said upthread, most likely people like that are people who were either never medicated or STOPPED without warning their meds, a very very bad thing

[prolesunited]

25. Thank you for bringing that up

These drugs are lifesavers for some people. Maybe they need to be on them forever, or maybe for just a short time to get the footing to fix the problems.

If a doctor is dispensing them like candy, you need a new doctor, not get rid of these types of drugs.

I wish my bipolar brother would have kept on meds -- instead of self-medicating with booze as some poster said upthread. Maybe he wouldn't have hanged himself in my dad's basement.

[kineneb]

29. so sorry

I understand a bit of your pain.

Our goddaughter is bipolar, and quit her meds for a while. She is back on them, but will need to be on medications for the rest of her life. Bipolar disorder is so difficult.

[kineneb]

27. hi, I'm one!

"I have a relative who would be DEAD by his own hand without these meds. Lets not forget that some people genuinely need them."

I was suicidal by the time I was 12 and didn't get the proper meds until I was in late 20s. A combination of Cymbalta and Wellbutrin are currently getting me through life. Without them I would probably give up.

[and-justice-for-all]

24. I would rather smoke Pot then take these pills....

...but I do however take Paxcil. Not for depression, but to calm my temper and help me focus better. Pot, in small doses would do the same thing, its cheaper and far cleaner then what I may experience in the long term from using Paxcil.

[Sparkly]

26. I thought antidepressants don't work on people who aren't depressed.

They aren't "happy pills." I thought people who don't need them don't get an effect from them (other than side effects and placebo effects) -- am I wrong?

[karlrschneider]

28. Soon to fall to second place. Behind Potassium Cyanide.

:eyes:

[illinoisprogressive]

30. For a handle on depression you need a combo of meds and therapy.

I have depression. Most of my family does. I find that antidepressants are needed for me but, also I see my therapist every 3 months and can go in if I need to see her for some reason.
Giving antidepressants to people who are just feeling down is irresponsible. There is plenty of good herbal remedies for those temporary stress like HTP.