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The Pros And Cons Of Antidepressants

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Did you know that thousands of children are being prescribed antidepressants to treat their depression? The age range of patients dealing with depression and are receiving drugs is as young as four years old. Some people believe that the antidepressants are benefitting the children, but that is not the case. Antidepressant drugs that are prescribed to children suffering from depression can lead to suicidal thoughts because the medication only makes the children feel worse mentally and physically. Many children are being prescribed these drugs because it is much easier for the doctors. The medications are being overly given to patients for this problem, and the doctors are not hesitating to give them out constantly. In a newspaper article …show more content…

Some people have a different opinion, thinking that the drugs are being beneficial to the patient suffering from mental depression and actually making them feel better. “Worse, antidepressants, which can be life saving, are probably being underused in young people” (Friedman). The medicine that has been given to children and teenagers may be beneficial in some circumstances, but for the majority, the drugs only make the problem worse and cause dangerous side effects, such as growth defects and making the depressed and suicidal thoughts even worse. Also, some data gives hope that the antidepressants are legitimately helping patients, such as, “...a steady decline in adolescent suicide rates that coincided with an increase in the use of antidepressants in this age group” (Friedman). Even though this evidence makes it seem like the drugs are making it better, it is false. Overall, more drugs have been given and caused more problems than the drugs that are genuinely helping the child or teenagers. The medicines primarily only provoke more secondary responses and problems with the child’s growth and development. “Parents and teenagers, and their doctors, too, should not be afraid of antidepressants and should know that they can be very helpful” (Friedman). This statement that Friedman has made is very untrue and actually the complete opposite. Nowadays, the first thing doctors look for when they have a patient dealing with mental depression is the prescription pad. The drugs are most definitely overused these days and people should be more worried about this situation and trying to limit the amount of antidepressants significantly more. Accordingly, the thoughts that the medication for mental depression is doing any good, is incorrect and will always be

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Furthermore, studies have shown that 30% of students in high school are depressed and only 9% are being treated. I read an article titled depression and it highlighted a lot of

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The fact that a medication can give diabetes to someone who doesn’t even have diabetes, is something that needs to be comprehended by psychiatrists prescribing this. Diabetes is a lifetime illness with no cure, and would drastically change a person’s day to day life. What needs to come to mind, is that all antipsychotic medication has its set of severe side effects, even if that list is short. All ages are subject to these side effects. If anything, the risks for children

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Kids on Meds The use of anti-depressants in children and teenagers is controversial at best. On the one hand there are studies conducted by neuroscientist which seem to prove that the use of these medication at a young age could possibly alter the brain's wiring permanently, thus altering its normal development. On the other hand, some psychiatrists claim that the benefits of using the medications far outweigh the risks of not treating the depressive episodes in children, due to the fact that each subsequent episode is usually worse than the previous. Who is right and who is wrong in this debate?

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In the Frontline documentary "The Medicated Child" (2008), the complex issue of prescribing psychiatric medications to children is scrutinized which prompts critical reflection on the ethical, social, and medical implications of this practice. The documentary presents an interesting narrative, combining interviews with medical professionals, parents, educators, and pharmaceutical personnel to provide a multifaceted exploration of the subject. One critical aspect discussed in the documentary is the tension between the perceived benefits of psychiatric medications and the potential risks associated with their use in children. As discussed in the documentary, “There are very, very few studies in children [regarding medications]” (Gaviria, 28:23),

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Many children who have depression have suicidal thoughts, which in some cases may lead to suicidal tendencies and/or actions. Antidepressants are one of the medications that could decrease or even eliminate these thoughts from the child's mind. Of course, when starting any new medication, the patient must be under close watch of a doctor, or trusted guardian. In addition, to ensure full safety, the FDA put a “black box” warning on all medications stating the possible risk of the medication increasing these depressing/suicidal thoughts.

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They are the medical explanation and solution to this new quickly rising mental health struggle. In “The Cure” by Jo Marchant she talks about the popularity of taking drugs for one’s mental health but also reflects that there isn’t a significant difference between taking an anti-depressant medication and a placebo medication. This shows that even though drugs are supposedly the “best” treatment as marketed by pharmaceutical companies, they aren’t all that effective. The pharmaceutical companies were so effective because their intentions were rooted in money. If they could get people to believe that their mental health struggles were due to a chemical imbalance, that it was a life-long struggle but it could all be fixed by a drug, then they had a life-long customer and were making a lot of

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All around the world, especially in the United States, there is an ongoing debate on if antidepressants are safe for young patients or

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Anti-depressants aid in the stability of neurotransmitters in the brain; they solve the sluggish feeling and change the way one thinks, eliminating depressing and suicidal thoughts. Even though this sounds like a victory for the person suffering from depression, the results are often temporary. When I was taking Prozac, the first couple of days were blissful; I was vibrant and radiating bliss. However as time progressed, I became depressed again and my symptoms escalated. Taking Prozac was temporarily effective, while on it; I could feel my thoughts changing, like literally feeling my thoughts change from morbidity to bliss was unsettling to me.

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The people who take these drugs may be using it for depression, or other conditions such as anxiety or shyness. They can even be taken by people who are 100% healthy to make them feel better about themselves. Some may argue that these pills aren’t truly making one “jovial”, that the drug being used is really just covering up their unhappiness but putting them in a slightly better mood. “People can also drown their sorrow in alcohol or get a euphoric feeling using narcotics, but few people who do would be called truly happy.” I would never personally recommend that someone takes antidepressants to make them happy.

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Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016. quest.eb.com/search/132_1268179/1/132_1268179/cite. Accessed 29 Jan 2018. Diller, Lawrence H. "Doctors Are Overprescribing Psychiatric Medication to Children." Treating the Mentally Ill, edited by Kyla Stinnett, Greenhaven Press, 2004.

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When I think of medication, I think of medication being used to cure symptoms that face a crucial threat on the human immune system. When I think of people with ADHD, depression or anxiety disorders being medicated, it confuses me. I believe there is an enormous amount of over medicating happening. I feel as if children are not getting the proper care they need for helping with these diagnosis’s, as if medication is the easy way out. If you really stop and think about it, it’s frightening and disappointing.

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Giving antidepressants to teens and adolescents is not the route to go when treating depression. According to the American Psychiatric Association depression is “a serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act” (Parekh). The possible cause of depression are “faulty mood regulation by the brain, genetic vulnerability, stressful life events, medications, and medical problems” (Harvard). “Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in this United States, and the second leading cause of death between the ages of 15-34” (Suicide).

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Since depressants were first introduced into the market, use among teens has become an issue

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The effects of depression in teens include feelings of sadness, hopelessness, or anger, having low self esteem, withdrawing from social activities, doing poorly in school, and changes in eating or sleeping patterns. These symptoms often go overlooked by the adults in young people’s lives because of the common expectation for teenagers to be moody and unagreeable. Additionally, in many cases, teens do not possess a full understanding of what is occurring with their feelings and thus do not put forth much effort into expressing their negative emotions, so they fail to recognize their symptoms as those of depression and do not try to seek any sort of aid. With one in five adolescents suffering from depression, it is incredibly important that this topic be presented to young people in schools so that they are made aware of the signs and effects as well as encouraged to take the necessary steps to obtain

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One in ten children and adolescents will experience a period of major depression (“Mental Health Myths and Facts”). Many avoid the topic of mental health like the plague. In truth, people should be able to talk about mental illness and its repercussions on society and the individual. A minority of those affected with mental illnesses get help. Therefore, it is important to discuss possible solutions to helping those who suffer get treatment.

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