Persuasive Essay On Antidepressant In Children

More than 17 million Americans have depression. Depression is much more than grieving or ‘the blues’. It’s a serious illness that can take a terrible toll on individuals and families says the Mayo Clinic Health Center. In reality the effect of antidepressants is not that much, but it bases on the certain person and their lifestyle such as sleeping habits, mood, etc. However many have benefited from antidepressants and lives have changed for the better. Yet some have had no effects. Therefore, antidepressants should not be prescribed for children diagnosed with depression.

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.

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.

At age seven, Ben Williams began showing signs of depression, telling his mother “I am not destined to have a happy life. I’d be better off dead.” His mother went to a general practitioner who said it was just a phase. At age ten, Ben tried to kill himself. It was only after his incident that he was prescribed antidepressants. Ben is now 17 and is no longer prescribed antidepressants. His mother states, “you never think it will happen to your child until it does.” There are many real stories, such as this one presented in an article by the Telegraph titled “Why Are We Giving Our Primary School Aged Children Anti-Depressants?” The battle on antidepressants has been ongoing, with some people refusing to accept them as a treatment for clinical depression and others accepting them without a question. These debates have lead to more experiments being conducted with the drugs in the United States and abroad, although rarely with children. Following some experiments conducted by the FDA, a “black box” warning had been issued in 2004. According to Walgreens, a large pharmaceutical company, “A black box warning is the strictest warning put in the labeling of prescription drugs or drug products by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when there is reasonable evidence of an association of a serious hazard with the drug. It is basically a warning with a black box around it, hence the name. Having the black box around the warning means that an adverse reaction to the drug may lead to death or serious injury.” There is currently a “black box” warning on antidepressants saying that they could increase suicidal thought in children, but the warning shouldn’t keep children from obtaining the treatment that may help them live an exponentially better life.

Two percent of preteens and five percent of adolescents suffer from depression (www.about-teen-depression.com 2014). There are specific signs and symptoms associated with depression, which are helpful in detection of the illness. There are various ways to treat depression, such as medication, group therapy, and/or herbal supplements. There are pros and cons with each treatment, but the worst coincides with the medication –suicide. Much research has been conducted, which will be discussed in the paper that has shown a link to antidepressants and suicide. However, there is also evidence that the suicide rate could be decreased with proper diagnosis and early, supervised treatment for depression, especially when dealing with

Even though antidepressants serve as a temporary relief for teens with depression, they should not be considered an effective treatment to cure depression due to the side effects, risk of addiction, and increase thoughts of suicide. “Teen depression is a serious condition that affects emotions, thoughts and behaviors. Issues such as peer pressure, academic expectations, and changing bodies can bring a lot of ups and downs for teens” (Mayo Clinic). Depression does not discriminate; no matter what race, gender, or religion, depression can turn a person’s life upside down if they do not handle it correctly. “Depression usually starts between the ages of fifteen and thirty” (WebMD). Teen depression may be more common among members of a family

The article “Chasing the Blues Away: Use of Antidepressants among Teens” by Meredith Jeffries exposes situations of parents who have children that are suffering from depression. One of the situations is about an all-rounded young student named Stephen who suffers from depression. Stephen’s mother believes there is another way to deal with this situation other than drugs. After years of trying all the steps such as: weekly meetings with a counselor, vitamins, exercise and therapy with special lights, she gave in and agreed to mood-altering drugs for her son. Another situation is about a girl in Stephen’s class named Jayne whose mother supported the doctor’s decision for her daughter to try the drugs. At first, the effects were immediately positive.

“One study found that a one percent increase in adolescent use of antidepressants was associated with a decrease of 0.23 suicides per 100,000 adolescents per year.” There is no evidence that the F.D.A. black-box warning was useful. It has made doctors or physicians not want to prescribe them. “Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people and

However, there are multiple theories. Patients of all ages use antidepressants because the drugs tend to alleviate depression in a relatively safe manner (“Antidepressant Drugs” 2). Supporters of antidepressants say that the drugs play an important role in easing the suffering of millions of Americans who suffer from depression. They say that by making treatment of depression easier, the drugs have allowed many people to overcome the stigma associated with depression (5). The adolescent suicide rate declined about 15% in the United States between 1985 and 1999, while use antidepressants in that age group was rising by nearly 70% (Harvard Mental Health Letter, May 2005, 3). It can be concluded from this statistic that antidepressants most likely were the reason for the decline in adolescent

The majority of epidemiological studies have not managed to establish a relationship between the use of antidepressants and the risk of breast cancer. However, there is biological evidence available that suggests a connection. Antidepressants have been linked to the promotion of mammary tumour growth and the increase of serum prolactin levels in women. The prevalence of antidepressant use has recently witnessed a rapid rise, making it increasingly important to monitor for their associated long-term effects. This population-based case-control study aims to assess the risk of breast cancer associated with the newer classes of antidepressants and longer-term use. In addition, they aim to distinguish whether the age and BMI of a woman increases

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

Some people have easily pushed aside this issue, completely underestimating how many people it’s affecting but when reading Lisa Mayoh’s quote, your mind will be completely changed. “Over thirty thousand children under eighteen are prescribed antidepressants.” That’s a lot of young children who are being affected by this drug day after day but the real argument is over whether it is helping them or hurting them. In most cases it ends up helping. The sad reality is that “no parent wants their teenager to down a handful of antidepressants everyday to fight anxiety or depression” as stated in article “Are We Over-Medicating Our Children”. Although that reality is frightening for people to deal with, many parents will agree that taking a few pills every day has improved their child's quality of life tremendously and has proven to be worth it in several aspects. Mary Sullivan is the mother of a sixteen year old boy who has been fighting depression for two years. In her words, “it was so difficult because every parent wants their kids to be perfect and you don’t want to accept the fact that something might be wrong with your child.” This is all very understandable but she has also been quoted to say that once she got over this her son was put on antidepressants and he is now the happiest she’s seen him since he was little.

“Eleven percent of Americans aged 12 years and over, take antidepressant medication,” “antidepressants were the third most common prescription drug … in 2005 – 2008,” and from 1988 to 2008, the rate of antidepressant use in the US increased nearly 400% (Pratt).

may brood or lash out in anger as a result of the distress they are

Kaplan and Sadock (as cited in Brollier, Hamrick & Jacobson, 1994) stated that depression, during the teen years, has become an increasing area of concern in psychiatry (Kaplan & Sadock, 1991. Kashani, Carlson, Beck, Hoeper, Corcoran, McAllister, Fallahi, Rosenberg and Reid (as cited in Brollier, Hamrick ,& Jacobson, 1994) studied the prevalence of depression in adolescents and reported that approximately 8% of adolescents experienced depressive disorders. Kaplan and Sadock (as cited in Brollier et al., 1994) suggested that new forms of treatment are needed when dealing with adolescents because adolescents often do not respond well to medications,