Should antidepressant drugs be prescribed for children suffering from depression? Depression is a serious mental condition that is characterized by extreme feeling of sadness, worthlessness and hopelessness, fatigue, irritability, loss of appetite, inability to concentrate, and insomnia or excessive sleeping. “One in four young people aged 16 to 24 experience mental health problems during their teenage years, For youths under 14, mental disorders make up 22.6 per cent of the burden of disease. For those aged 15 to 24, almost half (49 per cent) of the estimated burden of disease in young people is due to mental disorders. (Lisa Mayoh) Antidepressant drugs should not be prescribed for children for depression because of rise in suicide, causes …show more content…
Antidepressants can make depression worse rather than better for some people, leading to an increased risk of suicide, hostility, and homicidal behavior. “ the first look at suicide attempts across the nation over many years, examining insurance data on 7.5 million people from 2000 to 2010.” That’s roughly around 2055 people a year. “ in the second year after the FDA warning was adopted, overdoses increased 21.7 percent among adolescents and 33.7 percent among young adults.” (Felice J. Freyer) How are children going to understand that they can only take a small amount of pills that they received? Children don’t understand things when their young, their minds are still developing. The medication they take can causes conflicted thoughts and give them feelings that don’t understand and some can lead to suicidal …show more content…
"Mary Sullivan, the mother of a 16-year-old boy, says: 'I was very worried about the medication we were putting him on and the high doses. At one stage he was on eight a day." Children that take high doses of medication can cause them to have behavior disorders as they grow older. Some teens can get hooked onto the medications that doctors prescribed for their depression. “Over 30,000 children under 18 are prescribed antidepressant. 4000 children under ten were also given mood-stabilising drugs, with 500 of them not even five years old.” (Lisa Mayoh) People are so busy, as they say, that they put more pills on a child then sending them to a group to help them or to actually stop and take time to understand what that child is going though and how to help them. If the doctors actually looked more into what they gave kids then we could actually study the action of the medication instead of piling more meds on a
As in adults, depression in children and adolescents is treatable. Certain antidepressant medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), can be beneficial to children and adolescents with MDD. Certain psychotherapy modules also have been shown to be effective. However, our awareness of antidepressant treatments in children and adolescents, though growing substantially, is incomplete compared to our knowledge about treating depression in adults.
Children and adults should avoid antidepressants and find other alternatives to help alleviate the effects of clinical depression. Clinical depression can be caused in many ways, and people could handle depression in a variety of ways. Approximately 121 million citizens have depression ranging from all genders, ages, and backgrounds, (Moreh, O’Lawrence 293). Antidepressants have side effects that have been known to cause worse depression in those who take them. Unfortunately, there isn’t much research dealing with children and teenagers because of the sensitivity to doing studies on children (Baber). There should be other alternatives used to sway people from becoming dependent on antidepressants. According to David Hellerstein, professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the Columbia University Medical Center, behavior therapy is a good example of an alternative. Antidepressants could become addictive and cause worse depression than a patient had previously.
However, adults have speculated that when teenagers or youth in general seek help for a mental illness and then therefore receive antidepressants or a similar drug to take, the medication is what actually causes the suicide attempt. On any antidepressant, there is a warning on the label that states “May cause suicidal thoughts” (Bichell). There are many different types of medication under the antidepressant category, and I speak from experience when I say that one type of antidepressant medication may affect you differently than another person. A doctor may speak with the recipient of the medication and warn them to notify someone close to them that they are on the medication to watch for changes in activity, personality, etc. that show signs of possible suicidal activity. Through monitoring and the person on the medication making their thoughts know, this risk of suicide from anti-depressants or other medication should disperse. A major component of keeping control of suicidal activity requires a close family member or friend to be a part of an individual 's life...but what if
The authors of this specific article states in the very beginning that government agencies have issued warnings about the use of antidepressant medications in children, adolescents, and young adults since 2003. They explain that the warnings consist of statements that warn that such medications may cause suicidal tendencies in some people. The article’s authors explore the data on the treatment of depression that led to these warnings, and, also, the subsequent data that are relevant to the warnings. The authors also address the effectiveness
Antidepressant drugs taken by children have been linked to increased risk of suicide. Exasperated mental health professionals began prescribing antidepressants to children and teens in large proportions in the 1990’s, even though studied safety of such drugs for use in minors had not been conducted. Consequently, standard growth models and brain development may be impaired by the use of these drugs. Moreover, children may be risking one evil for another as adult years could prove to hold adverse side effects and health risks from prolonged use of these drugs.
The controversy over the use of antidepressants in the treatment of children has received a large amount of attention in the past years. Everyone has his or her own opinion of antidepressants and how they work, but no one takes time to research the claims of the treatments. Antidepressants are medications to treat depression in children, teens, and adults. The dosage given should vary on the level of depression and the age of the patient. The side effects also vary depending on the patient. One source states that, “teenagers on antidepressants should be monitored for any sign that the depression is getting worse” (HelpGuide.Org). Many teens are depressed from causes of neglect. Some may feel that their parents are not around as much as they should be. Depressed teens should be watched closely and if the parent or parents are not available to keep a close look the outcome of the teen may be in danger. If a parent pays more attention to their child, then they could intervene before the depression worsens. There is a possibility of prevention of the
In a world filled with prozac and adderall, it is logical to believe that kids have the ability to obtain medicine and therapy to deal with their issues. Today, it is easier than ever to speak your mind. The world we live in today is much more accepting that the 1900s. Therapy and the combination of medicine will help almost any kid find the light in the vast darkness of depression. In the United States of America, with the help of the Affordable Care Act, the poor will have access to medical insurance. Now more than ever, teenagers will have the ability to find and get the help they
One in every 25 adolescents is prescribed antidepressants to help manage depression. Depression is a serious mental illness that affects how people feel, think and behave. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems. People may have trouble doing normal day-to-day activities, and sometimes they feel as if life isn't worth living. Doctors and physicians prescribe antidepressants as a treatment to patients who show signs of depression or have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD). Antidepressant
Americans are taking antidepressants at astounding numbers. The use of antidepressants in this country by adolescents and adults has increased by four hundred percent between 2005-2008. These pills sedate those with anxiety and depression disorders. The problem is that more Americans seem to become dependent on this pills. In Huxley’s Brave New World, the citizens are encourage almost required to take daily pill, Soma, for instant gratification. Similar to Huxley’s world, people in our world seem to become more dependent on psychological drugs such as antidepressants.
People with any kind of illness use medications to help reduce a symptom which ultimately makes life easier for them, but if prescription medications are used out of control it could lead to negative health issues. In reference to The Medicine Abuse Project, a mother shared a story of her deceased son’s battle with prescription medications addiction. When the son was asked why he took these drugs he responded with, “All you think about is feeling that way again – only it is physically and chemically impossible.” (My Son Died From Accidental Prescription Drug Overdose). When young kids do drugs, since the brain is not as developed as adults, it is more likely to create a negative effect like addiction. The son explained that the reason he did stronger drugs was so he could feel the same high he experienced his first time doing this. Since the body gets adjusted to the medications consumed,
Psychotropic medications are usually, and perhaps, overly prescribed as a first-line treatment for a range of psychiatric analyses in children in a diversity of clinical settings. A psychotropic drug (psychopharmaceutical) is a chemical material that changes brain function and results in adjustments in perception, mood, or consciousness. Consequently, these alterations often cause a bevy of side effects that create significant harm to prescribed patients. The brain of a child is infinitely more sensitive and susceptible to side effects from psychotropic drugs which makes their use even more dangerous. Adding further fuel to the fire, as Kardish states, “Children in the United States are on drugs for longer and more often than kids in any other country” (2015). Together with this dark truth, the over abundant usage and steadily increasing inclination towards psychotropic therapy amongst health professionals, is eliciting a dire and troubling situation that must be addressed by the medical horizon.
We as people often take medications for any problem we may have, from headaches to conditions that are more serious. While most prescribed medication is necessary, some of it is not. Many children are being given medication when they don’t need it. According to a statistics report done by the National Institute of Mental Health, there has been a 21% increase in the number of children on psychiatric drugs from 1988-1994 to 2007-2010. These children are given drugs for emotional and/or behavioral problems. While some children do have conditions that require medication, many do not. The most common disorder for children in America is ADHD, according the CCHR, a report done by IMS Health, which is
Children and adolescents are suffering from side effects due to prescription antipsychotic drugs. Antipsychotic Drugs are being prescribed because of insurance companies like Medicare and Medicaid. Children should not be prescribed antipsychotic drugs because of the side effects, health providers benefitting from the prescription drugs, and the amount of children taking antipsychotic drugs. Doctors should refrain from prescribing these drugs until more long term effectiveness has been conducted on children. Doctors have yet to discover and cure all side effects.
Often the medication prescribed by psychiatrist to children are for adults and are very powerful. A number of psychiatrist on many occasions have admitted that most medications prescribed to children are only tested on adults and they have no idea what the consequence could be on children and on their future. Most parents have no clue and trust the doctor with their children 's wellbeing . An example could be Jacob Solomon who developed tics in his neck due to the medication he was taking over a span of five years. A girl in Ohio
I am a strong believer in the idea that you should avoid taking unecessary medication. Lots of people I know have said that me saying that is hypocritical because I take antidepressants, but I disagree. While it is not completely necessary for me to take antidepressants to overcome my depression and anxiety, they make a big impact on my life. Antidepressants have allowed me to be a functional human being and because of this, I have been able to redevelop daily