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The effects of antidepressants medication essay
Essays on side effects of antidepressants
Essays on side effects of antidepressants
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Emotional fluctuations between happiness and sadness are an inevitable part of everyone’s life. Regardless of what we do or how we act to try to prevent these sloughs, bad times always seem to slither their way back into our lives. For many, these bouts of hopelessness become too unbearable to endure. If nothing is done in time, their depression could lead them eventually to suicide. Depression represents a serious problem in our society today. As life continually gets more competitive, our current society pressures people into seeking an education and finding a profession that will bring about the most success and wealth all in an attempt to gain happiness. It is only human nature to pursue happiness, but are antidepressants such as Prozac the answer to true happiness? Although antidepressants work wonders by lifting users from the depths of depression, people using Prozac do not reach the highest level of happiness because these powerful drugs blunt emotions and misconstrue the true meaning of happiness. The use of Prozac has become mainstream in today’s society. Kramer (1993) discusses the advent of Prozac, its effects on personality, and its gaining popularity in the public in his book Listening to Prozac through sharing personal case studies he conducted in his career as a psychiatrist. In many of Kramer’s studies, his patients were relieved of their depression when taking Prozac, but many did not feel like themselves once they were taken off of the drug. Prozac has the ability to significantly alter someone’s personality. One of his patients, a shy woman who was apprehensive about dating, changed so drastically she began dating frequently, quickly going through men, and even dating multiple men at a time. Her pe... ... middle of paper ... ...ur emotions teach us what it means to be truly happy because only through experiencing sadness can we realize how precious true happiness is. These drugs defile our natural personalities and morph them into something completely different from our unique and individual self. A person’s true personality should be defended at all cost because, in the end, it is one the quintessential attributes that makes mankind unique and invaluable. Works Cited Antonuccio, D. (1993). Psychotherapy vs. medication for depression: challenging conventional wisdom. Journal of Psychophamacology, 14, 1-30. Goodwin, G.M. (2011). Symptom relief and facilitation of emotional processing. European Nueropsychopharmacology, 41, 710-715. Kramer, P. (1993). Listening to Prozac. New York, NY: Penguin Books. Stix, G. (2009, October). Turbocharging the brain. Scientific American, 46-55.
I interviewed a different friend of mine, Leona, (not her real name) who is clinically depressed. She had used typical antidepressants since her diagnosis, but was always telling me how she felt like they did nothing to help her. Leona constantly complained about how they made her so dizzy and sleepy that she didn’t feel like doing anything and wanted to sleep all day. These things only increased her depression, and she realized that later once she looked back on her time of antidepressant use. Before Leona’s use of antidepressants,
Thankfully there is an alternative that can solve the cause of these ailments while avoiding the negative effects that the psychoactive drugs leave on the patient. The alternative is talk therapy, or more professionally known as psychotherapy. If a higher emphasis is placed on psychotherapy rather than the curre...
Depression is becoming more common among adults due to the stresses that accompany everyday living. Along with the increasing numbers of adults suffering from depression, an ongoing rise in depression among the youth is also becoming a growing concern. Depression induced by peer pressure, bullying or other stresses can contribute to the growing numbers of adolescents taking antidepressants. According to Dr. Vincent Iannelli, there is an estimate that 3 percent of children and about 12 percent of teens suffer from depression. What most people are misinformed about is that they believe that antidepressants will prevent users from having depression or stop it completely. This is a misconception about antidepressants that can be misleading. The idea of taking a supplement to combat an internal emotional conflict should be severed out as a means of treatment unless ultimately necessar...
“Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15- to 19-year-olds. In any given year, about 20% of all high school students think of committing suicide; almost 10% try” (Cropper 112). This shocking statistic shows the high risk of suicide among teens, but what some might not know is that the most common form of treatment used to help teens suffering with depression is one that might also increase the risk of suicide and/or harmful actions to oneself. Tricyclic antidepressants such as Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, and Lexapro are commonly prescribed to adolescents and young adults to relieve symptoms of depression, and they work by either releasing more of the brain’s “happy chemical,” serotonin, in those with clinical depression, or by stopping the release of the brain’s emotional chemicals in those with manic depression (or other diseases such as bipolar disorder) (Silverstein 61). Although antidepressants can have a positive effect on the symptoms of depression, the risk of suicide among those who take it is too high to use as a first option. Suicidal behavior is a serious side effect in teens that are prescribed tricyclic antidepressants; depression should be treated with safer alternatives, such as behavioral treatment or other forms of therapy as opposed to such a “trial and error” approach.
Antidepressant usage has increased all around the world and is used by all ages. Doctors are prescribing more prescriptions, even if the patient does not need the medication. “Antidepressants prescriptions in the UK have increased by 9.6% in 2011, to 46 million prescriptions” (Are Antidepressants overused?). This study took place in the United Kingdom; however, a lot more prescriptions are being prescribed all around the world. The use of antidepressants is increasing to an all time high because doctors do not want to waste time talking about feelings. The psychologist’s just want the patients to feel better quickly so they prescribe antidepressants. Human beings as well as doctors think that prescribing medicat...
...ceutical productions which define the pathology itself. In support of the idea that depression expresses a reduced capacity to interact with the environment rather than an abnormality based around an unidentifiable measurement of “chemical balance,” I will argue that the way in which pharmaceutical drugs standardize chemical deviance and treat mental illness like a biological disease disregards the normative component of depressive illnesses which must be considered as a response in one way or another to the environment in which they are experienced by each patient. By thinking about antidepressants not as correctional of a biological pathology but as a form of adaptation, I hope to show how their use must be considered in relation to values which combine scientific, social and experiential components that cannot be explained by scientific means alone.
In the last fifty years, the treatment for mental disorders has come with a stigma. This stigma drives the reason why nearly half of the population goes misdiagnosed when it comes to mental disorders, and why only 19% of those diagnosed receive accurate and positive treatment. Psychotherapy, the most beneficial, popular, and best option of psychotherapy provides less risk and greater mental improvement to patients than most conventional methods, most importantly those of psychopharmacology. Pharmaceuticals, an easy solution that only solves the symptoms without solving the root of the problem, have continuous and sought after due to their ease of use. Albeit an easy and quick solution, they involve many risks, including mistreatment, further
Depression is a serious mental health illness which affects an individuals’ mind, body and mood. It is a chronic and lifelong health condition (NICE, 2006) thought to be caused by a number of biological factors including neurotransmitter disturbances in the brain and an element of genetic vulnerability; these are often in addition to psychosocial factors such as the occurrence of undesirable life events, limited social network options, poor self esteem and the occurrence of any adverse life events during a persons’ lifetime (Bernstein, 2006). Depression can have an impact on a persons’ ability to do many things including working, engaging with others, participating fully in family life or maintaining relationships, and it can also impact on a person...
Approximately 17% of people are having depression in their lifetime (Gibbons, et al., 2012). It was found that “more than 350 million people of all ages suffer from depression” (World Health Organization [WHO], 2012). It is the fourth in the rating of major public problems, and it is predicted to be illness number one in developed countries by year 2030 (Hollon and Sexton, 2012). In Scotland, the number of patients in ten years has been reduced by half, but the number of antidepressants prescribed has doubled (Stirling, 2013). According the Scottish NHS there are 420 thousand patients who are receiving depression treatment (Stirling, 2013). However this statistics might not reflect the size of the problem. According to...
Depression is a mental illness, which affects millions of Americans each year. Currently there are many prescription drugs, called anti-depressants that have been proven to successfully treat it. The causes of depression are somewhat of a medical enigma, however, it is known that depression is associated with a change in the brains chemistry involving the function of neurotransmitters (Reichert). This chemical change occurs in healthy brain’s, which experience sadness, but ends after the unpleasant stimulus is removed. In people suffering from depression this chemical change does not correspond to any particular stimulus. Symptoms of depression are often incapacitating and include severe and extended sadness, feelings of worthlessness, feelings of emptiness, irritability and anxiety (Reichert, Spake).
In his book Listening to Prozac, Dr. Peter Kramer thoroughly examines how Prozac has revolutionized the power of psychopharmacological medication and what it teaches us about the human self. Prozac has demonstrated the ability to transform a person's behavior, outlook, and conception of self through a neurological change of biology, thus providing more evidence that brain does indeed equal behavior. Perhaps more fascinating than the answers it provides about human neurobiology are the difficult questions, ironies, and problems its usage raises. The administration of Prozac challenges the model of healing through cognitive powers due to its purely biologic effectiveness. This success has widened the gap between the un-medicated and medicated human self. Which is the "true" reflection of a person? Do Prozac's transformations emulate an unnatural idealized social norm or release a healthy individual trapped in an unnatural state? How does this reflect or change our definitions of "illness" and "wellness"?
Mukherjee, Siddhartha. "Post-Prozac Nation: The Science and History of Treating Depression." New York Times. 19 April 2012: 3-4. Web. 6 April. 2014.
Gary Greenberg is himself a psychologist who practices in Connecticut and has dealt with depression many times over his lifetime. In his book he gives some very chilling facts about depression and its impact on our society. He states that in recent years the numbers of diagnoses of depression and prescriptions for antidepressants have sky rocked to the point where there has become an epidemic of depression (Greenberg 2011). Depression is so prevalent nowadays that it is being called “the common cold of mental illness” and is “the leading cause of disability” (Greenberg 2011:10)
Somni, R. W., Crismon, M. L. & Bowden, C. L. Fluoxetine: a serotonin-specific, second-generation antidepressant, Pharmacotherapy, Jan.-Feb. 1987, 7(1): 1-15.
The use of drugs is a controversial topic in society today. In general, addicts show a direct link between taking drugs and suffering from their effects. People abuse drugs for a wide variety of reasons. In most cases, the use of drugs will serve a type of purpose or will give some kind of reward. These reasons for use will differ with different kinds of drugs. Various reasons for using the substance can be pain relief, depression, anxiety and weariness, acceptance into a peer group, religion, and much more. Although reasons for using may vary for each individual, it is known by all that consequences of the abuse do exist. It is only further down the line when the effects of using can be seen.