If you haven't already, I invite you to read the following News Article, loosely based around Steven Kazmierczak's mental state on Valentine's Day:
http://kai03.qwest.com/WindowsLive/Media/News/NewsDetail.aspx?cat=Health...
The first thing you may notice about this article is the title... "Getting 'Off Meds' Has Consequences"... And my response to this is ... No Shit, Sherlock. Anyone who has ever seen someone "run out of their happy pills," as my mother likes to put it, knows that there can be SERIOUS ramifications to quitting drugs which you are dependent on, cold turkey... Prescription or not!
Further in the article, I found the statement
"Now he's on three mood stabilizers that zap his energy and cause weight gain, but make him feel "more solid, more relaxed, more satisfied in life.""
What is wrong with this picture? As the quote discusses, essentially pop some pills, and you may have terrible side effects, but hey! At least you feel better. I'm not saying I'm con-Anti Depressants. They certainly have their place. However. I am con-Taking Anti-Depressants and using them as your only form of treatment.
I have seen far to many people (friends and family) who decide, with their doctor, that they are in a depression of some kind. This results in the prescription of an anti-depressant... And that's all. I have never known someone (not to say it doesn't happen), that goes to their doctor, asks for anti-depressants, and then seeks out a therapist to help them understand their depression, and hopefully put them in a place where they do not need drugs, but rather can work through their situational depression without a dependence on a drug.... Whatever the reason may be.
It's called preventative medicine, and it is something we don't often dose here in America. Preventative medicine revolves on the basis of take medicine, exercise, and eat right now, to prevent disease/ mental illness down the road. In America, we often revolve around the basis of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Which is shitty for someone suffering from depression.... Because especially in the case of Depression, often when it breaks down, you are past the point of being able to "fix it".
In my opinion, Anti-Depressants should not be given out like vicodin, to just anyone who comes a knocking with a complaint (as I've seen the system work), but rather THERAPY and Help Services should be given out, and anti-depressants saved for the clinically depressed, who truly suffer from chemical imbalances.
I would be interested to know if anyone else has seen the Anti-Depressants being handed out like candy phenomenon, or if perhaps, I am the one going crazy.
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