Prozac Nation Essay

As the second decade of the 21st century progresses, the population approaches seven billion. With so many people, how are people supposed to stand out in job applications, or catch the administrators’ eye as he or she reads applications to highly prestigious colleges and universities? More and more people are asking this question, and more and more people are finding help in a small pill. Originally diagnosed for Alzheimer’s disease and ADHD, these drugs are increasingly used off label in universities and workplaces. In society, people call this form of off label use of neuroenhancing drugs chiefly two different things: smart drugs informally, and nootropics formally. The word nootropic originated from a Romanian Dr. Corneliu E.

Research shows that mental health can be a mix of nurture and nature. As individual’s environment and experience may dictate how they react physically and mentally to a situation for example, if a child has observed their parents being concerned about weight they are more likely to be concerned about weight in later life however, this can be linked to the nature

During this time of grief, Della feels overwhelmed knowing her mom is not the person she used to be and now is like an “ancient little girl”, which causes her to engage in self-destructive behavior (114). She mentions that she was in “two car accidents” and “was arrested twice” during her senior year. However she said those incidents were not “her fault.” Along with her reckless driving, she says she, “couldn’t keep [her] hands on the wheel” (113). This act of carelessly driving reveals that in a way, she does not care much about herself in those accidents since she does not own up to her actions and simply states that she “couldn’t” hold on to the steering wheel and talks about the accidents and arrest so casually despite the fact that her life was at risk. Della also portrays how people harm themselves when trying to cope with problems by using drugs. On nights when, “the pain wasn’t so bad,” she would go downstairs and “smoke a joint” (115-116). Drugs such as marijuana work as stimulant and a depressant, which means they can enhance mood and put someone is a state of relaxation. For that reason, many people, including Della, use it to cope with their pain. After caring for her mother, “six terrifying hours every night,” she uses the drug to help her escape her problems (115).

Mark’s psychosocial and biological predisposing vulnerabilities ultimately lead to the increase likelihood of his substance abuse disorder. A disorder he wasn’t aware that he was facing because his intentions for the substance were to merely ease his stressors.

Depression is something serious that ruins the lives of many. In “The Depressed Person” by David Foster Wallace, he introduces the reader to a person who suffers from depression but also is narcissistic; someone who hungers for attention and makes and situation about them. There’s a difference in depression alone and depression that is accompanied by narcissism. Being sad and keeping to yourself is symptomatic of depression, but being sad accompanied by the need to blame others as well as having a grandiose view of one’s self would be more representative of depression with narcissism. This combination brings an unhealthy lifestyle and burdens ones around the sufferer. The Depressed Person may not reach out

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.

As we have seen, treatment of schizophrenia with antipsychotic drugs can have impressive results in terms of decreasing active symptoms, although it does nothing to alleviate negative symptoms or to improve cognitive functioning. Unfortunately, this kind of treatment has the drawback of extremely serious and even fatal side-effects. Newer generation atypical antipsychotics offer more hope, as they can treat both active and negative symptoms, and also improve cognitive functioning. Moreover, they have fewer side-effects. However, treatment is complicated by the fact that results are unpredictable; and in addition the side-effects that they do have can be very serious, such as diabetes, which in itself is life-threatening. However, as the potential side-effects are known, the physician has leeway to choose a drug which is a good match for the patient’s clinical profile. Then, once the patient’s symptoms have been much alleviated with an appropriate newer generation atypical antipsychotic, the patient should be able to also benefit from a range of psychotherapeutic interventions. It is argued that this is the best treatment regime to choose, as it is likely to result in the greatest improvement in quality of life, coupled with the lowest risk of potentially devastating side-effects, or of death. This is likely to be better than utilizing cognitive behavioral therapy, the results of which are not reliably known – although research has certainly shown that it is less efficacious

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

The cause of Clinical depression has long been a mystery to physicians and researchers. Many different theories have been proposed, but no conclusive evidence has been put forth. However, most of what we know about depression stems from the results of certain drugs which have been successful in treating the clinically depressed. These anti--depressants have led to the assumption that depression is most likely due to a chemical imbalance (of neurotransmitters) which somehow leads to the symptoms of depression. To try and write a paper on all the theories of depression would be endless, as would be a study on all the different types of

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

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.

Although a light read, her experience is heart-breaking as she is abused at home, institutionalized, and instead of being treated for her depression, doctor’s attempt to “feminize” her with eye shadow and lipstick. She is the type of advocate that makes noise in a silence because she tells a tale that would otherwise be unknown.

When we break our arm everyone runs forward to sign the cast but when we say we have depression everyone turns and runs the other way. This author shows how severe depression can form and issues that can be associated with severe depression. The way Elizabeth Wurtzel depicts depression and the substance abuse that can be related to severe depression is  impeccable in her non-fiction novel Prozac Nation. Depression affects more than 350 million people worldwide and is the most common of all the mental illnesses, it doesn’t have a cure but it is manageable with proper medication. Elizabeth Wurtzel has said “ I made ‘Prozac Nation’  a necessary reading because I write necessarily.  I tell my story because it is about everyone else: in 1993, people took pills to relieve the pain just like they do now, but it scared them; it doesn’t anymore, because talk is not cheap at all -- it is tender”i think this is very important  because it shows how hushed the talk about the facts on mental illness are. Although depression is shown to be an individual illness, the author effectively demonstrates the massive toll depression takes on family and friends. For example, depression takes a toll on your family and friends by having to watch you suffer and be in pain and not be able to do anything about it. Secondly, your family and friends are stuck watching as depression takes you

Cvetkovich’s book started with the introduction.In this introduction it starts off stating that her depression started when she was in graduate school when she realized that she was too busy being involved in the academic culture that she couldn't participate in a protest. She was so muller over her inability to participate that she fell and injured her ankle. She then stated “I couldn't feel physical pain because I was so busy feeling other kinds of pain… an amorphous sense of dread” (30) Years later she still finds herself “fixated on the immediate presents unable to think of other things or how to imagine it ending” (35) Cvetkovich focused on herself and how to get rid of her depression through therapy, religion, and antidepressants. She

James was referred to the counselling service for chronic low mood in terms of demonstrating depressed mood, worthless and hopeless feeling, and marked diminished interests or pleasure in university activities and social relationship activities. Based on his background information, it seems that James’ early life experiences and his developed core beliefs of self, world and future have huge impacts on his chronic low mood symptoms.