Antidepression Med Use Skyrocketed over 20 Years

[bananas]

Source: International Business Times

One in 10 Americans takes antidepressants, according to a federal study released Wednesday, a rate that has skyrocketed in the last two decades.

<snip>

Women are two and a half times more likely to take antidepression medications, according to the report, and women aged 40 to 59 made the largest demographic of antidepressant medication users at 23 percent.

<snip>

The study also found that while 14 percent of white people took antidepressant medications, only 4 percent of black or 3 percent of Hispanic residents took the meds. The study concluded that there was no relation between income and antidepressant use.

Over one in eight Americans took antidepressant medications for 10 years and longer.

<snip>

Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/234166/20111019/antidepression-medication-women-depression.htm

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cdc webpage about the study: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db76.htm
pdf of the study: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db76.pdf

[Lionessa]

1. That seems about right.

I'm single and refuse to seriously date anyone taking anti-depressants for reasons not worth going into, and I'd say that even in the over 50 crowd, I only date 1 in 10 men that I've met over the past 20 years primarily for finding out they were on long term anti-depressants.

Yeah, I know I'm unfair, but it's my thing to not ever want to be around someone withdrawing from anti-depressants again. It can be so awful.

[lbrtbell]

37. Thanks for being prejudiced against people with mood disorders

Are you utterly perfect in body and mind, allowing you to be so biased against others?

If you can't handle helping someone withdrawing from a legally-prescribed medication, please don't ever get married. That whole "Till death do us part" thing includes helping them through suffering.

In fact, please don't date at all. People have been known to suffer from injuries or disease, and it would be horribly unfair to them to be deserted by you during their darkest hour...simply because you're too spoiled to be able to handle helping others who are suffering.

[tblue]

2. Almost everyone I know

is on some kind of antidepressant.

[Rebubula]

4. Really...

...must be a bummer of a crowd to hang around.

[tblue]

24. No. They're the ones ON the drugs.

85% need them and only about half of us take them. True that.

[cbayer]

3. I think some of this has to do with the introduction of Prozac in 1986

Prior to that, antidepressants were less effective, had more side effects and were lethal in overdose - all serious problems.

Not to say that they are not over-prescribed, because I think they are, but use skyrocketed when SSRI's became available.

[yardwork]

20. I'm not convinced that SSRIs have been a big improvement. Let me share my story.

This is a sample size of one. Anecdotal evidence. But I did find a lot of company on the internet and my doctors confirm that they've heard the same from many of their patients.

I was prescribed Paxil for more than ten years. During that time I went through really significant, major life changes include important revelations about myself (like that I'm gay, things like that). I was seeing a psychiatrist regularly and I also participated in group therapy. As a result of the therapy and the changes I made in my life, I felt that I didn't need the meds anymore. My psychiatrist strongly discouraged me from getting off. Eventually she retired and I found another psychiatrist. This one was amenable to my getting off the meds. I followed his advice carefully, gradually tapering off. Even so, I endured very uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms that lasted for months. Head shocks, serious dizziness, nausea, light sensitivity, insomnia, muscle aches, and emotional extremes. I persevered, and I've been med-free for months. I will never take an SSRI again.

[cbayer]

22. Withdrawal from SSRI's is a problem, particularly if you are on them

for an extended period, I agree.

But, who's to say that the Paxil didn't play an important role in your ability to navigate through those rough waters? Group therapy is a tough road and at least as effective as meds, but studies consistently show that the combination of meds and therapy are synergistic in terms of outcome.

Whatever the case for you, I believe that SSRI's have saved many, many lives. Not perfect and not for everyone, but effective and relatively safe for many.

[lbrtbell]

38. Paxil has been a godsend for me

It has helped my fibromyalgia-related pain and depression a great deal. Yes, people are different, and react differently to drugs. However, using some people's problems to malign a drug entirely isn't the answer, either. :)

[Odin2005]

25. I used to have panic attacks constantly. I started taking Paxil and no more panic attacks.

IMO a lot of people prescribed SSRIs don't need them, but for people that really have debilitating anxiety disorders or clinical depression, they are a godsend.

[zazen]

26. Paxil withdrawal was a nightmare, but some meds are very useful

The new MAO patch is one not well advertised way to get off Paxil without crazy withdrawal. I speak from personal experience.

[krabigirl]

31. I tried several, and all of them had bad, bad side effects for me.

Ranging from a huge amount of weight gain, to constant stomach problems, to making me feel like a zombie. I'd prefer to have a panic attack once in a while than live like that.

[SharonAnn]

36. I was on Paxil for almost 5 years and was successfully weaned off them.

Paxil helped me deal with some very, very difficult issues in my life and I don't know if I would've been successful dealing with them without Paxil.

Once my life had settled down, and I think good decisions during the time I was helped by Paxil were the reason for the improvement, I was ablet o talk to the doctor about trying to go off them.

We put together a plan and I slowly lowered the amount according to the plan. The plan was successful and we monitored the steps carefully. The objective was not to gooff them as quickly as possible, but to try going off them in a planned manner. And, if I had experienced some problems, we had plans on how to go back to the previous dosage levels and monitor things.

For me, the help that Paxil gave me was invaluable. I had spent years being depressed and not functioning well. With Paxil, I felt like myself again (first time in decades) and could deal with things better.

[tawadi]

5. If our masses weren't medicated they'd be suicidal by now

:silly:

[SixthSense]

6. I'm holding out for soma

[Viva_La_Revolution]

27. I'm holding out for GLeeMONEX. nt

[LadyHawkAZ]

7. Yeah they stuck me on that garbage too

I think I went through a dozen different types of antidepressants. All of them made me sick, none of them worked.

Turned out I was hypothyroid, and what I actually needed was a cheap nonpatent drug that's been on the market since the dinosaurs walked the earth. Gotta love for-profit healthcare.

[Smilo]

11. Curious - what's the drug? n/t

[LadyHawkAZ]

12. Synthetic T4 - L-thyroxine n/t

[Smilo]

14. Thank you :) n/t

[Manifestor_of_Light]

39. I'm hypothyroid as well. Hashimoto's since age 12.

Some people do not do well on T4, synthroid.
some people must take both T3, the active form, and T4, the bound form, to feel good.

T3 increases neurotransmitters and serotonin, as well.

[LadyHawkAZ]

41. I'm one of the lucky ones that can tolerate synthetics

although it's looking like I may need the t3 as well, even just the t4 has been a real revelation to me. So THIS is what "normal" is like, eh?

[Exultant Democracy]

8. Yep, it's the income inequality, check out the book "The Spirt Level"

it talked about this and other issues that are directly correlated with the income distribution of a country.

[Kolesar]

9. The meds caused my to grind my teeth at night: I have significant enamel loss now

...and these strange flat topped cuspids.
Avoid them!

[sarcasmo]

10. Americans numbing the pain of the failed economy.

[Taverner]

13. At least we get some kind of crutch during this time in our history

Hell, I think you'd have to be crazy not to be on drugs these days

[Vinca]

15. People, overall, are overmedicated . . . IMHO, of course.

Combine the nonstop drug advertising with the pressure society puts on people to be successful and it's a recipe for disaster. While I'm sure many people have bona fide bouts of depression, others just can't accept the fact that every day can't be Christmas. Sometimes you get sad and you should embrace it. Crying is good every so often. Another problem with antidepressants is they're given out like a fast food fix in lieu of therapy. Doctors, other than psychiatrists, are not that into hearing their patients' personal problems and they don't have the time if they were.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

16. I like to throw in that since the 70s women have been barraged with

articles about happiness and joy and fun (or lack of). Women must feel that if they're not constantly happy and thrilled with their mate there's something wrong with their life.

[jkappy]

19. The New Age and Psycho-Therapy Have Subsumed the

original women's political movement. The whole world of women has been psycholgized into relational jargon, happy talk, focus on self, self-fulfillment, anti-anger crap, anything to isolate from reality and each other. The outer world is replaced with inward reality. Anything beyond the self is too fraught with opposition, anger, danger, and argument (not good for the Ladies). And to act at all you must,of course, be fully at peace with yourself--and perfect.

[SpiralHawk]

34. "We agree. What we need to do is punch the hippie new age shrinks." - RepubliBaggers

[krabigirl]

30. I agree, but it's up to them to realize they are being fed propoganda and bs.

[Demeter]

33. (Usually, there's something wrong with their mate)

Let's face it, our culture is fracturing, crumbling, returning to ashes and dust. And this is at the behest of the 1%, who can't take the competition.

[krabigirl]

29. Yep, and they make you gain tons of weight. no thanks.

[pscot]

17. So 70% of all antidepressants

are taken by women. Why is that?

[LadyHawkAZ]

18. It's so much easier than finding what's really wrong

there's still a misconception among doctors that a woman complaining of depression is either emotionally lazy or hormonal. Why bother finding out if there's really a problem if you can just give her a (patent, expensive) pill and shut her up for awhile?

[Manifestor_of_Light]

40. They're too lazy to check their thyroid function.

even though the woman might be fat, grumpy, fatigued, have a moon face with a swollen neck (myxedema-severe hypothyroidism).

Image of myxedema:


It's easier to give them an anti-depressant than to investigate their thyroid and their adrenal exhaustion (caused by stress-burnout) from the crushing amounts of stress we all have to deal with. That is when your immune system goes to hell.

[Neoma]

21. I think people mistake being sad with depression.

But on all accounts, I do think it's needed.

[hedgehog]

23. +1

[krabigirl]

28. Tried it, none of them worked for my anxiety. Made me a walking zombie and I gained 40 lbs.

All of the ones I tried made me gain weight (without changing my diet btw), and on a couple, my stomach was so upset that I could barely function.

I got off that stuff, use alternative medicine or just hard exercise, lost all the weight and am no longer a zombie. No risk of "brain zaps" either when I go off natural meds or if I choose to stop exercising. Sure, I still have anxiety sometimes, but it's better than living like that.

[SOS]

32. On the Happy Planet Index

Costa Rica ranks #1
Cuba ranks #6
USA ranks #114

out of 143

What is it about the USA that makes it's citizens so miserable?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Planet_Index#International_rankings

[SomeGuyInEagan]

35. Direct marketing of pharma to the public plays a role

I have doc friends who have told me that they have had patients look up drugs on their mobiles *while* in conference with them (the docs) about a diagnosis ... while SITTING ACROSS THE DESK FROM THE DOC DURING THE CONVERSATION. Drug companies know that a bit of marketing at us will sell more than wining and dining physicians ever did.