LIVING: Prozac Nation: Have We Become Too Dependent On Drugs?
- 2010/04/30 19:32:21
- Read all 39 opinions
The U.S. rate of mental illness jumped from 1 in 184 Americans in 1987 to 1 in 76 in 2007.
Is Prozac, the so-called cure-all mood enhancing drug, the culprit?
A new controversial book, Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America (by Robert Whitaker, Crown Publishers, April 2010) is trying to answer that question.
Have we become a nation dependent on pills to deal with daily stress?
The $25 billion pharmaceutical industry supplying those antidepressants does not want us to question the effects (for example, a rise in suicide rates) of taking a magic bullet pill to make your anxiety and depression go away. But Whitaker's question "Could our drug-based paradigm of care, for some unforeseen reason, be fueling the increase in disability rates?" is also one that has a money answer, as governments fund disability due to depression.
The contentious new book on mental illness in America seeks to answer some of the tough questions about what has created a culture depicted in the 2001 film "Prozac Nation."
Is America ready for the answers, or would we rather just take a pill to make it go away?
WATCH
POLL
Is Prozac, the so-called cure-all mood enhancing drug, the culprit?
A new controversial book, Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America (by Robert Whitaker, Crown Publishers, April 2010) is trying to answer that question.
Have we become a nation dependent on pills to deal with daily stress?
The $25 billion pharmaceutical industry supplying those antidepressants does not want us to question the effects (for example, a rise in suicide rates) of taking a magic bullet pill to make your anxiety and depression go away. But Whitaker's question "Could our drug-based paradigm of care, for some unforeseen reason, be fueling the increase in disability rates?" is also one that has a money answer, as governments fund disability due to depression.
The contentious new book on mental illness in America seeks to answer some of the tough questions about what has created a culture depicted in the 2001 film "Prozac Nation."
Is America ready for the answers, or would we rather just take a pill to make it go away?
WATCH
POLL
Top Opinion
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Lavendergrl 2010/05/01 03:34:06
+7Please don't tell me that whomever put together this poll erroneously believes that John Nash overcame his mental illness without pharmeceuticals. Schizophrenia is a whole lot different than depression. And even major depression is more than a chocolate-induced melancholy as seems to be the trend of belief on this site of late. There hasn't been a rise in mental illness. The stigma is lifting and awareness is bringing people up to speed; lifting masses from the dark worlds where they suffer. If your kidneys, your heart, your bladder, your SKIN can all be prone to numerous ailments, WHY THE HELL NOT THE BRAIN??? Why is it okay to treat other body parts with medication and not the mind. Geez! I've had it with ignorance!
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Of course there are cases of those who truly need help, and that may include drug prescriptions, but the majority of folks on anti-depressants do not need to be.
my pills from the east,
and two bottles of goose, that's geese.
I am surprised that Americans tolerate all the drug ads on T.V. that make so many people demand drugs from their doctors when they don't even need it. (And the doctors are forced to prescribe it to them or they lose patients.) Most nations deem this illegal.
The public relations people have done a good job with making the people equate healing with the pharmaceutical companies. Think of it. When you think of a doctor, don't you think of a legal drug pusher? When was the last time your doctor prescribed 3 cups of coffee to combat an asthma attack? Skiitake mushrooms (1/3oz-3oz daily) to cut down your cholesterol (by 7%-14% in 1 week)? Or an infusion of parsley against allergies? Ginger infusion against ulcers? Or tea to enhance weight-loss?
Note: Infusion -- n. a cup of water boiled and left with a herb for 10 minutes
Source:
Mental drugs are temporary fixes until the root of the problem is found and dealt with by a psychiatric professional who knows well what they are doing. However, the underlying mental problem(s) may never be found while on mental drugs given by a family physician (whom is not really qualified in psychiatry) because the root of the problem will be masked.
I'll tell you why...most of them dont do much of anything. I know from personal experience, last year I was prescribed 4-5 medications for certain things, my memory turned into mush, I gained a whole person in weight, I wanted to sleep all the time, even while driving, I couldnt think straight, I became dependent on them to "cure" or "fix" me. Im not doing that anymore.
Should be replaced by this
I've been taking Prozac for sixteen years. A common misconception about Prozac is that you can take one or two and get some kind of high. Not so. It takes about thirty days for Prozac to begin working. And then, all it does is to clear the depression and make you feel normal. If you are not severely depressed the only thing you will get of it is a placebo effect!
And to anyone who suggests that it's a rip-off or that diet changes will work as well as Prozac, I sincerely hope that you get good and depressed and live that way for the next 20, 30, 40 years. And I hope I run into you so that I can suggest a "change in your diet" instead of an antidepressant.
If you haven't used or needed antidepressants, you really should not comment.
Celexa took a incapacitated, young person and within a six month period he was back to his old self, has traveled and done volunteer work in China with NO issues. It is not a perfect solution, it is not magic as you do have to be aware of the side affects but, when it comes down to having no ability to function or being able to really live your life then medication is sometimes called for and when it works it saves lives. It does not make him "high" It balanced the seratonin in his brain s...
Celexa took a incapacitated, young person and within a six month period he was back to his old self, has traveled and done volunteer work in China with NO issues. It is not a perfect solution, it is not magic as you do have to be aware of the side affects but, when it comes down to having no ability to function or being able to really live your life then medication is sometimes called for and when it works it saves lives. It does not make him "high" It balanced the seratonin in his brain so he could go to school, work, travel, be outside without those horrific panic attacks. The doctors know it is a brain imbalance of chemicals.
Is it over prescribed? I do not know. I know for a fact in our case it was needed probably sooner than it was given. I also know that the ability to function is priceless. Unless you have lived with this you really, really don't know what you are talking about people. It's as serious as any other SEVERE illness. Depression kills.
The first time I tried Prozac I was on 20mg. Nothing happened so I quit. I HATE to take drugs and have NEVER done illegal drugs either. So about 18 months later, that was when I had reached the end of my rope, I determined that I was going to do one of three things. Get electric shock treatment, find a new med or go on to the other side. It was New Years Day and I couldn't do anything except take the old Prozac that I had held on to. But I took 40 mg. I did that everyday and believe it or not, on the 30th I woke up and I KNEW it was different. I could see sun outside of my window whereas I always saw gloom. And I had a smile on my face. It was the happiest day of my life. But then I literally lived in fear that it was going to go away!
That was sixteen years ago, after forty years of being from moderate to severely depressed. Some people just don't understand.
As far as over prescribed, I think it probably is, but not long term. I have heard so many people say they took Prozac and got 'high'. No No No.........it doesn't work that way. What they were feeling was what they had HOPED and EXPECTED to...
The first time I tried Prozac I was on 20mg. Nothing happened so I quit. I HATE to take drugs and have NEVER done illegal drugs either. So about 18 months later, that was when I had reached the end of my rope, I determined that I was going to do one of three things. Get electric shock treatment, find a new med or go on to the other side. It was New Years Day and I couldn't do anything except take the old Prozac that I had held on to. But I took 40 mg. I did that everyday and believe it or not, on the 30th I woke up and I KNEW it was different. I could see sun outside of my window whereas I always saw gloom. And I had a smile on my face. It was the happiest day of my life. But then I literally lived in fear that it was going to go away!
That was sixteen years ago, after forty years of being from moderate to severely depressed. Some people just don't understand.
As far as over prescribed, I think it probably is, but not long term. I have heard so many people say they took Prozac and got 'high'. No No No.........it doesn't work that way. What they were feeling was what they had HOPED and EXPECTED to feel.......and it was all in their head!
It is disturbing when people are critical of prescribed drugs because they may be inadvertently affecting some one's life who could otherwise be helped.