Effectiveness of Antidepressant Drugs
In Issue 13 of Taking Sides, the controversial question Have Antidepressant Drugs Proven to be Effective is analyzed. Psychiatrist Peter D. Kramer argues in this issue that antidepressant drugs "can transform depressed patients into happy people with almost no side effects" (p.212). On the contrary, professors of psychology Seymour Fisher and Roger P. Greenburg "claim that the studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of antidepressants are seriously flawed" (p.212). Kramer's agreement with the statement above is due mostly to the testing he did with his patient Tess and antidepressant drugs. However Fisher and Greenberg disagree with the statement mainly because of the bias drug studies that are done.
Psychiatrist Peter D. Kramer experienced with the antidepressant drug Prozac with one of his patients Tess. In doing this, Kramer learned many things about Prozac and it's effects on people. The experience also leads him to ask many other questions about the drug. Tess was a patient who came from an abusive childhood and therefore a...
Lieberman, J. A. (2003). History of the use of antidepressants in primary care. Primary care
Antidepressant are a form of pharmacotherapy treatment developed to treat the symptoms of major depression. Antidepressants are used for many other types of conditions including anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, dysthymia, eating disorders, sleeping disorders, and substance abuse, pain syndromes, gastrointestional disorders. Antidepressants usually require several weeks to notice significant effects. There are no antidepressants or any medication that is completely free of adverse effects. This article explains that the adverse effects of antidepressant can decrease compliance and slow down the rate of recovery. It is important for one to take note of potential side-effects before choosing the best antidepressant to suit their personalized needs. Statistics show that about 28 percent of patients sto...
Jeremy Laurance’s article “Ketamine: a cure for depression?” published in The Independent in October 2012, sanctions the use of a drug of abuse called ketamine for the treatment of depression. The author supports this theory by stating a study completed by Robert Dunman, a professor of Psychiatry and Neurobiology at Yale University School of Medicine in Boston. The following paragraph will summarise the main points of the article and discuss the evidence used by the author.
Antidepressants are a very powerful, yet helpful medication when they are taken through the correct guidance and instruction. What I really want my audience to understand from this research is that even though there is a lot of controversy when it comes to these drugs, and also sometimes toward those taking them, they can really help to change an individual's way of life for the time being. This research paper relates to me through pathos. I myself take antidepressants (Prozac) every since my father passed away. I do not want to rely on them for the rest of my life, because I do know the consequences that may come with the medicine. For now though, antidepressants have really helped me stay positive (for the most part) and keep my head up. The benefits of antidepressants outweigh the negative effects
I am quite fascinated by generalized control mechanisms and the role they play in the nervous system. I am also quite curious about the relationship between different generalized control mechanisms. The concept of mood and depression in particular have always interested me. I have always wondered what actually causes depression. Why can some people be in a perfectly good mood one day and then less than a week later start exhibiting the signs of clinical depression? I have always been curious about the role that experience and chemical imbalances play in depression and other mood disorders. I donUt totally understand how chemical depression can originate as the result of severe outside stressors in a personUs life. How can this stress go from simply stress in the experiences and environment of a person to a chemical imbalance? I have also wondered why certain people are more susceptible to depression than others. I am curious about whether genetics play a role in depression and whether certain people are more susceptible to depression because of the environment they live in or because of pharmacological reasons and genes. Throughout our class this year, I have wondered about the role that the I-function plays in depression. I find it interesting that it is possible to wake up one morning and be in a nasty mood even if I want to be in a good mood and my I-function is thinking RhappyS thoughts. Through my research for this paper I wanted to find out more about the different kinds of depression and exactly what goes on chemically in the brain when a person is depressed. I also wanted to do a little research on how depression can be treated. I wanted to try and determine how and when the line of simp...
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 a disorder. Therefore, SSRI medications have only indirectly caused or will cause us to re evaluate what it means to be human, by giving us the realization that, although we are not perfect, we are good enough at changing our environments (both externally and internally) to ensure successful and comfortable survival. The part that troubles us as a society is the relatively new ability to change our internal environments, just as we have been changing our external environment for centuries. Some see using medications that alter the chemistry of the brain as tampering with the very thing that makes us human. In
In summary, the article talked about the effects that antidepressant pills have on children. Immense publicity about antidepressants causing suicidal behavior in children is prompting more parents to hesitate to take their kids to psychiatrists. More doctors are hesitating to put their patients on antidepressant prescriptions. Last October, the Food and Drug Administration ordered black box labels, the most severe warning, on all anti-depressants. Some doctors think that these medicines are "speed bumps" and might end in more suicides. Other doctors think, "For children who really need treatment, a wait and see' approach could be dangerous." The percentage rate of children's antidepressant prescriptions has dropped within the last couple months. Psychiatrist Bruce Black says, "Kids are unhappy for a lot of reasons, and antidepressants often aren't the solution."
Moran, M. (2011). Overlooked Psychotherapy Effective in Depression. Psychiatric News, 46(8), 1-1, 28. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.library.capella.edu/docview/864089271?accountid=27965
Antidepressants are a prescription drug now used by people of all ages. They have become a part of society, therefore, taking antidepressants is not frowned upon. Antidepressants are used to make people feel “happier” and not to feel sadness. This is shown in the dystopian society in the book Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley in 1932. In that society the people use soma, a well-known drug, to make them feel no pain and are conditioned to think soma fixes everything. Helmholtz and Bernard two main characters, do not take it because they want to be able to see the world for what it is. They also do not want soma to change how they feel; they want to appreciate nature. In addition Lenina and Henry love taking soma because then they cannot feel any pain, they are just happy all the time. In our society, people think that antidepressants will make them feel no pain and that these medications will fix all of their problems. Antidepressants have a negative impact on society today as well as in the book Brave New World.
FDA research has shown that tricyclic antidepressants such as Paxil can actually increase the severity of depression and suicidal behavior in teens and young adults. In the shocking expose “Treating the Mentally Ill,” medical journalist Rob Waters warns “Antidepressants including Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, and Effexor have provoked hostile behavior and thoughts about suicide in a number of teenagers who have been prescribed the drugs. Some of th...
Kaplan, Brian, “Antidepressants and Our ‘Brave New World’.” Dr Brian Kaplan RSS. 24 Jan. 2012. Web. http://drkaplan.co.uk/2012/01/homeopathy/antidepressants-evidence-and-our-%E2%80%98brave-new-world%E2%80%99
According to the FDA, about 2.5% of children and around 8% of adolescents are affected by depression (Temple). A common way to treat depression is by taking antidepressants. Children and teens have also been prescribed antidepressants for various reasons other than depression such as OCD and anxiety disorders. While it is legal for teenagers and children to take antidepressants, many people are concerned with the issues that taking antidepressants have. Children and teens should be allowed to take antidepressants only when other forms of therapy don’t work. Antidepressants are serious drugs that have severe warnings when children and teens use them. There is also an increased risk of worsening depression and suicide in children and teens, especially in the when they begin to take it. Even the less severe side effects can make quite a negative impact on life.
Considering the research question: “How do the benefits and limitations of antidepressants and psychotherapy in reducing symptoms of major depression give a better understanding of human nature regarding the different psychological perspectives?” this essay will argue that while treating major depression biologically with antidepressants can be successful, there is more credit due to psychotherapy as treatment because people are social beings with conscious, cognitive th...
Many will say that taking a pill is easier than any other treatment for depression. You can easily wake up every morning, turn to your night stand, and take your pill within five seconds. Whereas playing an instrument, will become much more difficult; you will have to take time out of your day to fit in music playing into your schedule. Not to mention all of the drawbacks that you will encounter during this journey of learning an instrument. Yet, that still doesn’t compare to all of the side effects that an antidepressant pill has. Mark Tyrrell and Roger Elliott published an article to Clinical Depression and stated that some of the side effects may include: nausea, fatigue or drowsiness, insomnia, agitation, irritability, and/or anxiety (Mark
Moreover, according to the report, the benefits of the therapy concept are also showing to last beyond termination of the therapeutic process. In many ways one can appreciate that this report can validate Shelder’s (2010) eight meta- analyses as well as his nine meta-analyses of other psychological therapies with the use of antidepressant prescriptions. These reported meta-analyses can show that psychodynamic therapy can have substantial treatment