Friday, March 11th, 2011

The Antidepressant Dilemma

Since 1997, and the suicide of thirteen years old Matt Miller, the use of antidepressants to treat the disease became questionable and very controversial. Antidepressants are medications used to mitigate mood disorders like depress behavior, anxiety and stress. The dilemma or imbroglio is that cases of suicides occurred on patients taking those antidepressants such as the Zoloft. So will the inevitable decrease in prescriptions ultimately lead to more teenage suicides? Is the use of those medicines actually worth it? To answer those questions, pros and cons must be balanced and we should also understand when to use them and who is eligible to be treated by them. Matt Miller was thirteen year old at the time he killed himself. However, if you look at a recent Zoloft commercial, the use of the pills is forbidden for people under eighteen years old. As we can see, progresses have been made on the requirement to use antidepressants. I think being depressed is a serious and illness. Many people probably need to take pills to feel happier. However the sale of the medications should be highly regulated. We should also work on finding another way to heal the disease, like by psychological therapies. The medications are made by pharmacies to make more money; it is quite obvious. The pills are an alternative for poorer people too. But as we see in Matt Miller’s case, it does not guaranty to be healed. Taking Zoloft is the easiest way to get out of depression. In another hand, it is very risky. I don’t think a decrease of prescriptions would lead to more teenage suicides. Psychologists must give their opinion about taking pills or not. Matt Miller shouldn’t have touched any pills due to his young age. Why Zoloft was prescript to Matt Miller? Do pharmaceutique industries hold the health system, looking to make money, prior to save