Effectiveness of Antidepressant Drugs Essay example

Major depressive disorder has better prognosis than other mood disorder medications and therapy have been successful in alleviating symptomatology.

Americans should be more aware of the false validity of the Chemical Imbalance Myth in our society today because of the immense usage of Antidepressants and the negative consequences they have on our physical and emotional health. The writers goal in writing this paper is not to say that mental illnesses are not real, rather, to point out some of the myths and traditions that are related to depression. We as a people tend to confuse normal emotions with clinical depression, in which they are prescribed antidepressants to make them feel better. The myth focused on in this paper is the “Chemical Imbalance” theory, which has been adopted by our society for years. The number of people in America that are currently on antidepressant medications is alarming and this issue must be addressed. A mistake that many well-meaning American’s make is taking pills when those pills are not necessary. These pills are rather damaging to an individual’s physical, emotional, and family health. When individuals take responsibility for their emotions and meet their core needs as a human, the normal emotion of sadness can be resolved.

Our world has come to a point in history where we rely heavily on pills and therapy and diagnosis and doctors and studies, just to tell us what’s wrong with our personalities and our brains – for what? So pills can be prescribed and therapy revived for the diagnosis doctors proclaimed, backed up by studies they never named, all so they can keep their jobs? There appears to be no rhyme or reason to the excessive diagnosis apart from the goal of expanding one’s practice. Clinical studies are often discovered to be biased, or data manipulated. Whether the focus is on teenage trauma or debilitating depression, professionals tend to overlook important factors of influence. An array of sources have taken to this subject including a psychiatrist based in Berkley, a featured neuroscientist on TedTalk, a cartoonist named Mike Baldwin, and an analysis by s.e. smith.

Many people argue whether or not antidepressant drugs are safe for young patients. Multple studies say that these drugs cause an increase of suicidal thoughts to the patients. Other studies state that they improve patients’ lives in remarkable ways. There are risks, but there are also benefits. With warnings being issued and multiple studies being released with different conclusions, it is up to the patients themselves and their parents to decide whether the risks or benefits outweighs the other.

At first it was the cure all people were looking for. Then it became the drug they were afraid to take. Somewhere between these two extremes lies the truth about the drug Flouxetine, better known as Prozac, the most widely prescribed drug on the globe. It is mainly prescribed to patients suffering from clinical depression. It was first brought to the market in 1988 by the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly co. Even though it was originally prescribed for depression, it has been prescribed for everything from eating disorders to insomnia. It was first considered the wonder drug of the new decade because of the way it helped depression patients when no other anti-depressant could

Research Question: Are antidepressants being over prescribed, if so what other options do doctors have and what should they be considering?

Does cognitive-behavioral therapy work just as well as antidepressants when treating depression? How we perceive our depression is what helps to determine the type of treatment necessary. Antidepressants treat the common symptoms of depression rather than the condition while therapy helps change the thought process so the disease is cured in the end. Many studies are done to provide necessary information to what the answer to this question should be. The following articles provided studies that explained the effects of treatment with medication, with therapy, or a combination of both.

The pertinent findings will be explained, and their implications on future anti-depressants will be addressed.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are currently one of the most controversial groups of medicines, with fluoxetine, more commonly known by its brand name Prozac, at the head of the controversy. Opponents of the use of SSRI medications as a successful and safe method for treating depression and related disorders assert that the actions of the drug are an unnatural and a dangerous form of tampering with our neurochemistry. Not only are these medications incredibly safe in almost all cases, they are actually an unnatural method of modifying an already disordered, natural sequence of chemicals in the brain, and therefore are not a form of tampering, but are a method for fixing

Psychological issues affect people with symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. Depression is a condition in which a person’s main emotions withdraw and there is a prolonged sadness over a long period of time. Main causes of depression consist of abuse in one’s lifetime, horrific or tragic events and or certain medications. “About 121 million people world-wide are believed to suffer from depression” (Naurt, 2008). Symptoms consist of low self esteem, disturbed sleep habits, appetite loss and the feeling of being not wanted; “It can lead to suicide and is associated with 1 million deaths a year” (Naurt, 2008). Antidepressants are the common treatment for depression, but music therapy is becoming increasingly popular. The biological perspective on the anti-depressants given to patients diagnosed with depression can have very horrific side effects. One such group of anti-depressants is Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs): “…there is also an established direct link between suicide and violent behavior and the use of SSRIs” (Tyrell, 2001). Most people stop using anti-depressants because of the drugs’ side effects. The SSRIs are just one example of malicious effects anti-depressant drugs that can create on people. Another research study completed by Kikuchi, Mimura, Suzuki, Uchida and Watanabe (2013), affirms their hypothesis that antidepressants has profound negative effects on patients with

Common types of medication include POM (prescription only medication) which can be obtained from a pharmacist only if prescribed by a doctor. These could include anti-depressants which are very common. Anti-depressants work by selecting receptors in the brain and controls levels of serotonin. They come under the group 'SSRIS' (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). Over the counter medicines (OTC) may include things like paracetamol or ibuprofen, which are everyday painkillers. Something like paracetamol inhibits the production of pain and inflammation-causing chemicals called prostaglandins.

As the literature remains inconclusive as to the relation between current major treatment modalities and depressive disorder, and given the extremities of the potential dangers of antidepressant medications, it is apparent that there is a need to develop new interventions, which show greater efficacy, safety, and acceptability.

Hook: The recognition of depression as a common mental illness should lead to studies regarding what form of treatment is best for a patient, but antidepressants seem to be the unimpressive go-to.

Is depression a subject that people typically tend to brush aside? Rather than facing away from a serious issue that people suffer from in their daily lives, we should discuss the methods to help people with their struggle from depression. A common method to treat depression is the use of antidepressants. But are they effective? Do they cause more harm and danger than aid? Are there other methods that can provide greater improvement rather than a pill? Instead​ ​of​ ​using​ ​antidepressants​ ​there​ ​are​ ​other​ ​alternatives such​ ​as​ ​placebos​ ​and​ ​types​ ​of​ ​therapy​ ​that​ ​can​ ​be​ ​just​ ​as,​ ​or​ ​more​ ​effective​ ​than​ ​the​ ​use​ ​of ​prescription​ antidepressants.

In total, the results of 1460 patients receiving antidepressant medication and 858 receiving a placebo sugar pill were analyzed. This analysis combined the results from these 19 different studies and generated an effect size (which is calculated as the mean of the experimental group minus the mean of the control group, divided by the pooled standard deviation SD). Once Kirsch and Sapirstein subtracted mean placebo response rates from mean drug response rates, they found a mean medication effect of 0.39 SDs (1). For each type of medication, the effect size for the active drug response to drug response is between 1.43 and 1.69, and the placebo response is between 74% and 76% of the active drug response. This means that 75% of the effect attributed to the perceived use of anti-depressants was due to the placebo. The perception of clinical benefit from antidepressants was largely attributed to the perceptions of the mind, and not to the actual chemical make-up of the pills patients were taking. The placebo effect shows us that the mind heavily influences our perceptions of wellness and health.