Prozac In 1987, Eli Lilly unleashed his new super drug for depression, a selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI), fluoxetine, commonly known as Prozac on the world. Since its release, Prozac has been used by more than twenty million people worldwide. At first it was received as the great cure, a drug that achieved huge success in a short time with few side-effects; however, in the last few years many questions and doubts have surfaced. The benefits of Prozac put forth a very good argument for the drug, now used as a solution for weight problems, premature ejaculation, and insomnia as well as for depression. Many people though, do experience side effects such as nausea, diarrhea, and sexual difficulties. With …show more content…
1992) showed that Fluoxetine was safe and effective in preventing migraine." (Prozac and Migraine) Prozac truly plays ball from both sides of the court. What one patient tells their doctor is a side effect another patient tells their doctor is a benefit. Some of the benefits to Prozac are not effective with all patients. Although it is now one of its uses , Prozac is not effective with all people attempting to lose weight. Others have in fact reported weight gain. One Prozac user stated, "My distinct impression was that my metabolism (usually fairly sturdy) slowed up, and I didn't care enough to cut back on food." (Banishing the Cream-n-Green Bullets) In this man's case though, he doesn't blame Prozac directly for the weight gain per say, so much as for cutting back his overall drive. There are many drawbacks or negative side effects to Prozac. Of the side effects reported harmful, the most common are nausea, headaches, diarrhea, insomnia, and sexual difficulties. Although some more severe side effects like suicide have been associated to Prozac by some groups, most believe there is no direct correlation between using Prozac as medication and suicidal thoughts or acts. One Mayo Clinic psychiatrist, Dr. Keith G. Kramlinger said, "There's very little evidence that this is a common side effect with the drug. Suppose that someone has a depressive illness in which there's a risk of suicide. If you prescribe a medicine and the
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.
The pain spoke meanwhile sadness pierced through skins, however, the drugs was able to silence the beast within. Antidepressant the legal drug of choice is prescribed by doctors to treat a variety of medical conditions. These drugs are often prescribed by themselves or sometimes with others with the intent of having a greater effect on the beast within. Antidepressants come in several classes with each being stronger than the one before. Although antidepressants are often prescribed to treat depression in recent times the distribution of these drugs across the medical field have widened. Since the 1950s, medical personnels have moved from having two antidepressants: iproniazid and monoamine-oxidase inhibitor used to treat tuberculosis to now
Medication can relieve symptoms in most people with depression, and it’s become the first line of treatment for most types of the disorder. (par. 41 ). “And the extra benefit of antidepressants was even less than we saw when we analyzed only published studies.” Scientists say in the article “The Depressing News About Antidepressants.”(par. 8). One reason why antidepressants should not be prescribed is that people could get used to taking those specific drugs, decreasing their effectiveness and increasing the likelihood of reliance or addiction. If patients take medications too long, they might get too used to them over time and eventually increase their dosage without consulting their doctors. If the overmedication continued, patients might eventually take too much of their medication, leading to an overdose. Many drugs should not be prescribed in case of patients trying to seek more medication without professional assistance.
Suicide is intentionally causing your own death out of despair. It is considered a behavior and may result from a form of mental illness, but is not classified as a distinct psychiatric disorder. It can stem from different factors such as personal, social, financial or historical well-being. ("Mental health and wellness," 2013)
Doctors are allowed to prescribe antidepressants for children even if the child has never been evaluated by a psychiatrist. The symptoms of depression that were given in a Prozac commercial included things like feeling sad or irritable and having trouble concentrating. But these are normal symptoms for some situations. Someone may be having a difficult day or week their going through. It does not mean they have clinical depression. For example since the time my sister hit adolescence she was diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder, all of witch were not true. Her only problem was she was a teenager who wanted to do what she wanted to do. Antidepressants are not a "cure" for adolescence or misbehaving children, but for people who are truly troubled and really need these drugs in order to function.
Moreover, these drugs' intended effects can themselves have the unintended or undesired consequence of an increased individual risk and collective rate of suicidal behavior: Among the set of persons taking the medication, a subset feel bad enough to want to commit suicide (or to desire the perceived results of suicide) but are inhibited by depression-induced symptoms, such as lack of energy and motivation, from following through with an attempt. Among this subset, a "sub-subset" may find that the medication alleviates their physiological symptoms (such as lack of energy) and secondary psychological symptoms (e.g., lack of motivation) before or at lower doses than it alleviates their primary psychological symptom of depressed mood. Among this group of persons, the desire for suicide and/or its effects persists even as major obstacles to suicidal action are removed, with the effect that the incidences of suicide attempt and of completed suicide increase.[citation needed]
Preston, J., O'Neal, J. H., & Talaga, M. C. (2013). Handbook of clinical psychopharmacology for therapists (7th ed.). Oakland, CA: New
The results were so astounding, British physician to Queen Victoria, Sir John Russell Reynolds commented, “When pure and administered carefully, it is one of the most valuable medicines we possess (Lee 2012).”
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
Her familial conflicts continue well into her college years. Therefore, it is safe to deduce that Wurtzel’s childhood did play a considerable role in the development of her depression.
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
Traditional antipsychotics are good at reducing the positive symptoms, but do not reduce the negative symptoms and are classified in low-potency and high-potency which can cause many side effects like; dry mouth, tremors, weight gain, muscle tremors, stiffness, motor disturbances, parkinsonian effects, akathisia, dystonia, akinesia, tardive dyskinesia, and neuroleptic malignant syndrome.
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.
Normally side effects are mild; with more impairing side effects being less frequent. According to the same pamphlet, the most common side effects are “constipation, daytime sleepiness, diarrhea, dizziness, dry mouth, headache, nausea, sexual problems, shakiness, trouble sleeping, and weight gain.” Also mentioned elsewhere are “Serotonin syndrome” which can include “confusion, hallucinations, loss of coordination, fever, rapid heart rate, and vomiting” and that the medication can worsen your depression and can increase the risk of suicide or self-mutilation. Having any of these would be very intrusive upon a person’s normal functioning. Antidepressants also usually take “at least 6 full weeks to begin to get the full effect” (United States) of their depression lessening. This long lag time between when treatment begins and when depression alleviation starts is another concern, as alternative methods can begin working right away and if you need to switch antidepressants, it takes another 6 weeks for the next one to work. The long treatment time is another drawback of using antidepressants as “most people need to keep taking these medicines for 6 to 9 months,” (United States) yet later in the same pamphlet it is stated that not much is known about the long term use of antidepressants because the “research studies generally only