Reply #26: Somatic drug abuse is real as well.

[NMMNG]

Just take a look at the medicine cabinets of the average person, particularly a middle-aged or elderly person, and you are likely to see up to 10 different prescriptions, maybe more.

Medications as a panacea for all that ails you is nothing new, it hearkens back to the days of the old "snake-oil-salesman". Print and television advertising for prescription drugs has only caused an explosion in the use of these drugs, both somatic and psychotropic. Ask your doctor about the Little Purple Pill. I talked to my doctor about the antidepressant with a lower risk of sexual side-effects. Isn't it time you tried Cialis? For once a week convenience, ask about Ortho Evra.

Is it any wonder that the sales of prescription meds have increased dramatically? It is impossible to determine how many people are on medications they don't really need, or on brand-name medications where adequate (and less expensive) generic versions would do. The tv ads have consumers diagnosing themselves, then running to their doctors to request specific medications. Doctors have the right to refuse--they do hold the prescription pad after all. But all too often they succumb to their wish to please the patient (and sometimes the fear of malpractice suits) and give in.



As to ADHD and the explosion of cases. ADHD has only been around as a specific diagnosis since 1980. Accordingly we have only 25 years of data with which to work. I myself am skeptical with this particular disorder. I do not deny its existence, but I do question the dearth of diagnoses. I can't help but wonder how many of the children labeled ADHD are simply undisciplined, and would better be treated with counseling, structure and discipline rather than mind altering drugs.

Furthermore, while I believe that children who genuinely have mental illnesses should have the option to take medications, it should be done as a last resort since their brains are still forming and the medications can affect the neurochemistry. Other options, such as individual and family counseling should always be utilized prior to and in conjunction to using any medications. If medications are used they should be very closely monitored.

On suicide:

Between the mid-1950s and the late 1970s, the suicide rate among U.S. males aged 15-24 more than tripled (from 6.3 per 100.000 in 1955 to 21.3 in 1977). Among females aged 15-24, the rate more than doubled during this period (from 2.0 to 5.2). The youth suicide rate generally leveled off during the 1980s and early 1990s and since the mid-1990s, it has been steadily decreasing.
http://www.cs.umd.edu/users/meesh/ActiveMinds/facts.html


Now as to the fact that more people take antidepressants I can give speculations for either side of the case.

Pro: More prescriptions are being written because depression is being diagnosed better. There is less stigma towards people with mental illnesses so those who feel depressed are more likely to seek help. There is also more awareness out there, between public awareness programs, television programming and commercials, so people are more able to recognize symptomatology in themselves and know that they need to get help.


Con: Print and television advertising prompt people to believe that they can cure bad moods, crappy days and naughty children with a trip to their doctor. Friends, coworkers, school administrators, medical professionals and others can subtly or even overtly influence us into thinking we should or must use medications for our good/our child's good.





*A side note on antidepressant use: Dry statistics on number of antidepressant prescriptions does not necessarily denote number of people using them for depression. They are sometimes used for other purposes. Desyrel (trazodone) is often prescribed as a sleep aid. A number of the SSRIs and some of the Tricyclics are prescribed as migraine prophylactics. Using these medications for "off label" uses has aided in the so called "explosion" of their use.