Teen Depression : Is It Really Doing What It Should?

Since the prescriptions have increased, the use of antidepressants has also optimized in children and adolescents. Part of the high growth in the usage of antidepressants was because doctors were prescribing the drug to children younger than 6. The number of “antidepressant prescriptions written for teens increases every year” (Mitchell). That statistic should be going down because teenagers do not know if they are really depressed or if they just had a bad day. By the doctor just giving them medicine teenagers will never learn how to deal with their problems and how to fix certain situation. By prescribing the medication children and teens are learning how to take the easy way out, by resorting to taking drugs. Antidepressant use is not only in teenagers, but antidepressant prescriptions for “kids ages 6 and under rose to a surprising 580 percent” (Mitchell) as well. Starting kids young on antidepressants should not be allowed because then the children could not develop correctly. The child’s brain is still developing and the use of antidepressants make it that the brain can not fully developed or get so use to the antidepressant doing all the work, that the child would not know how to cope with a bad day or stress. The child would just go straight to the medicine drawer and take

Antidepressant drugs, which can be lifesaving, are being underused in young people. Their use fell significantly after the Food and Drug Administration issued its black-box warning in October of 2004, stating that all antidepressants were associated with a risk of increased suicidal feeling, thinking and behavior in adolescents; later on that warning was extended to young adults (Friedman 1). The Food and Drug Administration-FDA ordered drug companies to place a black-box warning on antidepressant drugs, this would then allow parents to see the side effects the drug might come with. As antidepressants can have its benefits, it is not the only way to treat a mental illness like depression. The majority of parents believe antidepressant is the only treatment and that psychotherapy is a waste of time and money. “About 80 percent of people with depression respond positively to professional medical treatment--usually talk therapy, medication or a combination of both--and almost all patients gain some relief from their symptoms. Unfortunately, less than half of those with depression seek treatment(Clayton

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

“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

In the past few recent years, there has been a developing concern about the use of antidepressants in teenagers (13-20 years of age) as there has been increase in teen depression in the

and in some cases the strong need of antidepressants outweigh the risks the pills might provide.

It’s simply easy to discard a young adult with a hint of depression or anxiety in society’s eyes. In fact, depression is a fickle box, a diverse illness, with different prior causes and abstract theories (Mukherjee, New York Times Magazine, 2012). Most adults might be under a false impression that it’s a normal for children to have severe mood swings. As for the adults who have worked under the physiatric/medical field, knew professionally that wasn’t the case. Antidepressants is the key ingredient and solution for these young adults to handle for their own mental problems. Con: However, The U.S Food and Drug Administration slapped “black box” warning on antidepressants, with even a small minority chance of increased suicide risk, behind the agency's strongest safety alert (Olson, Omaha World-Herald, 2005).

When it comes to antidepressants being medically necessary, I believe we need to look at the patient as a whole and not just being fixated on the patient’s depression. There are a bunch of doctors out there who are very eager to prescribe antidepressants to just give a quick fix and not to have any other therapy with the antidepressants. The only time that I can see when antidepressants are medically necessary is if the patient is Bi-Polar or another form of major or severe depression. The patient also needs other therapy along with the medication.

“One in eight persons needs treatment for depression during his or her lifetime” (Prozac.com). Prozac is claimed as the wonder drug cure for obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, bulimia, and panic disorder by fixing the imbalance of chemicals in the brain. Many documented cases have been made about side effects of Prozac and how it has negatively affected many of its users. Doctors need to have more responsibility and stricter guidelines for diagnosis of adolescent depression and should consider medication a last resort while pharmaceutical companies should develop a new youth-friendly antidepressant with fewer side effects.

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

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

According to a recent study, the typical patient goes off his or her prescribed medications after just eight weeks. And of course, when people stop taking their meds, they're much less likely to experience any lasting benefit. But what are the major antidepressant side effects, and how often do they occur? Although the answers can vary a bit from one medication to another, many adverse effects apply to depression drugs across the board. We'll review the most important of these in this article. Suicidality. Of all the potential downsides to antidepressant use, none is more troubling than the drugs' reported tendency to cause suicidal thinking and behavior in children and adolescents. It's hard to believe that any drug-let alone one designed to combat depression-could have such a sinister effect. But as the data have accumulated in recent years, it's become clear that these medications pose a genuine risk of increased suicidality in this age group. The evidence on this point is so compelling that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration now requires all antidepressants to carry a "black box" warning label. This warning, issued in late 2004, came after FDA researchers- under intense public pressure-combed through their database of twenty-four antidepressant studies involving four thousand four hundred adolescents and children.

“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).

Depression a word we’re familiar with especially when it comes to adults, we know adults get depress and we understand the reasons, with the high demands in life it’s not uncommon to get lost in the shuffle. Depression in adult is something we have known for many years, but what has surprised many of us is that adolescents also get depressed. I myself still don’t fully understand the reasons why or how this happens. I see it very often adolescent coming in to the ER because they are depressed and want to hurt themselves, and each and every single time I’m shock. What could be so bad in their lives that would make them think they have no way out? This is the reason why I choice this topic, I want to learn more of how this disease affects so many children and teens and what we can do to stop it.

Today’s teenagers are faced with the ever changing world around them and the biological changes of their bodies. Many teens are also faced with depression. Approximately half of teenagers with untreated depression may attempt suicide, which remains the third leading cause of death in this age group. (Bostic). This depression affects their school, family lives, and robs them of their self image. Depression affects many teens and often goes by unnoticed and untreated.