The use of antidepressants in the United States of America is an ever-growing phenomenon. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2004) record that “adult use of antidepressants has almost tripled between 1988-1994 and 1999-2000. Ten percent of women 18 years and older and 4 percent of men now take antidepressants.” The alarming quantity of antidepressant prescriptions has caused much controversy in the psychiatry field. Reports of antidepressants leading to suicide, extreme apathy towards life responsibilities, and the failure of patients to confront their problems have become major issues in recent years.
Dr. Nassir Ghaemi (2009) noted in Psychology Today that the problem may not be that the drugs are inherently evil themselves but rather it is the fault of the doctors who over-prescribe or prescribe the wrong medication. Ghaemi (2009) said that many problems are due to bi-polar patients who have been misdiagnosed and treated with antidepressants instead of mood stabilizers, causing more harm than good.
Ronald Dworkin M.D., author of Artificial Happiness: The Dark Side of the New Happy Class agreed when he said that doctors aren’t addressing the real problem. “Doctors are now medicating unhappiness. Too many people are taking drugs when they really need to be making changes in their lives,” said Dworkin (Cohen, 2007). In his book, Dworkin told story after story of patients who plead for medication over commonplace problems when in reality, they just needed to learn how to manage their own lives (Dworkin, 2007).
The need for a more responsible medical community in the area of mental health seems to be essential in order to preserve the fabric of American society. Many believe that the emotional numbing affect that is the signature of antidepressants may lead to a slew of other societal and cultural problems including the unraveling of family life and even economic issues. Let us not let the issue of depression be the link to an economic depression. Let us instead choose to make decisions that are healthy and will contribute to better life-management.
