Show Debates on depression continue Shay Bonney Contributing Writer Antidepressants are a common find in medicine cabinets of society today After Tom Cruise denounced them as r ii ilie e Today T d y cb sh wc n ra i J sparked as as' people took sIdes on whether he was right or ot wrong In his article entitled Tom Youve You've Said Enough Jim McKairnes stated that there are many misconceptions regarding antidepressants He says that its it's important to differentiate between antidepressants anti and anxiety anti-anxiety medication He also states that we should recognize recognize recognize nize that some people are prescribed medicine and others abuse them This point was further clarified by Susan name change a 25 year old nursing student here at the college Honestly No they dont don't work at atall atall all ill said Susan who is taking medica- medica medication ion tion for Major Depressive Disorder when asked if her medication was working Susan clarified that she's been tak- tak taking ing ng for awhile and that she is sappier happier while taking it However her psychiatrist is still trying to find med- med medication cation that will make her happy all he the time This additional medication never lever seems to help What does help are tre the weekly sessions with her ther- ther therapist therapist where she can talk freely and receive advice Susan learned in her anatomy class about the effects of antidepressants on he the body Antidepressants usually stimulate neurotransmitters in the gain brain that dont don't secrete enough chemi- chemi chemicals als cals that provide people with the feeing feeling feel feel- ing ng of happiness She also learned that depression isn't always caused by Depression Continued on Page 4 Depression Continued from front these neurotransmitter mal mal- functions Sometimes people people people peo peo- become depressed because of the things they are experiencing in life and their environment Susan believes that medication should be determined by the individual situation Side effects of medication vary from person to person personas as well According to some of the most common side effects of antidepressants ar are dry mouth weight gain sleep disruption as well as sexual side effects Sometimes more medication medication medication medica medica- tion is prescribed for the side effects caused by anti- anti depressants Other times no nos s side de effects are detected at all Robert name change doesn't feel medication or therapy helped his 4 w 1 lems lems He was diagnosed Ci as a achild achild child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder His parents became concerned when he became violent when he felt frustrated After being prescribed Robert s 's s behavior went from violent to mean and he started feeling depressed He couldn't understand why being a alively alively alively lively kid required medica medica- tion After all he was just a kid Talking to a counselor didn't help much His psychiatrist psychiatrist psychiatrist prescribed for his depression which made him feel happy sometimes His emotions went to the extremes If he wasn't happy he was depressed He was either hyper or lethargic Other tests were performed but eventually Robert stopped taking medication and visiting visiting visiting visit visit- ing counselors Today the 20 year old Robert isn't taking anything anything anything any any- thing and is happier than 9 II when he was on medication Some people need medication medication medication med med- you know for chemical imbalances and such but I think they're just overused sometimes Robert said The FDA requires that antidepressants have a ablack ablack ablack black box on their labels This black box warns users about the possible increase of risk of suicide as a result of using the prod prod- However some scientists scientists scientists argue that the experiments experiments experiments ments used to determine the suicide risk are sive Sive According to The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter some scientists feel that children with depression already are at risk for sui sui- cide These scientists feel the data isn't specific enough to what qualifies as risk for suicide as well as whether any increase is due to the medication The FDA states While conclusions cannot be drawn people should approach the use of all antidepressants antidepressants antidepressants anti- anti depressants with caution Currently the only antidepressant antidepressant antidepressant anti- anti depressant that is approved by the FDA is Prozac Despite lack of FDA approval there are many people who support the use J I L. L L.- L. 1 of antidepressants Gina name change has been struggling with depression for years Initially she was put on by her marriage coun coun- After a divorce Gina got frustrated because she felt happier the days she didn't take her medication but was still depressed Later a family physician suggested Today Gina struggles not only with depression but many chronic illnesses At 66 she knows the situation will only get worse She is still taking and holding trembles that without it life would seem unbearable She no longer goes to therapy and feels having someone to talk to would help but wouldn't want to replace her medication with therapy thera- thera py py- The debate will still continue continue continue con con- but it seems that its it's hard to come up with what's right and what's wrong when each individual situation situation situation situa situa- tion is so different For now it all depends on diagnosing specifically ly what affects the person suffering from depression and take how to treat it from there |