More and more people are taking anti-depressant to help them feel better. But how many of them are severely depressed or just feeling down?
Virginia Ghent of Conway finds joy playing with her grandkids, Natashia and Boris. Lately she's been going through a rough patch with her special needs daughter Shannon. That, along with life's other ups and downs make it tough so she takes an anti-depressant every day.
"It all feels like the whole world's against me. It can get worked through, it will get better," says Ghent.
The number of people like Virginia taking anti-depressants is soaring. But while antidepressant sales have quadrupled, the number of people actually seeing a psychiatrist has fallen.
"There are people taking these drugs that should not be, no question," says Dr. Jeff Chothier.
Dr. Chothier, a UAMS psychiatrist, treats patients who are clinically depressed. He says some people put on these drugs are not depressed but just sad.
"They're started by well meaning primary care physicians who really have a limited amount of time with the individual patient and patients who have very limited resources to obtain further counseling," says Dr. Chothier.
Advertising has no doubt increased the demand for anti-depressants. Plus, some doctors use the drugs "off label" to treat things like back pain or fatigue. But there can be dangerous side effects.
"I don't think they should be passed out like candy. Careful diagnosis and careful follow up is key," says Dr. Chothier.
Doctors are careful when talking about this subject because even though there are people on anti-depressant that shouldn't be, there are plenty more that should and aren't getting help. But there's a push to identify those people.
"They're trying to target people who would have been missed and the reason being that there are true morbidity and mortalities associated with this condition," explains Dr. Chothier.
Virginia says they are making a huge difference in her life. "They help your mind to see things, all the thing you're going through, they're not dire straights situations. Everything is not, you're falling off the cliff," says Virginia.
She is also getting help through psycho-therapy and doctors say that's important because these drugs aren't meant to work alone, even though some people expect them to. "My Christian upbringing tells me, and I tell myself, it's a little recorder in my mind, everything's going to work out according to His plan. Everything is going to be wonderful."
Dr. Clothier says if a person taking an anti-depressant isn't really depressed he's not sure the drug would even be helpful. But if you are taking these drugs, you should also be seeing a psychiatrist of psychologist so they can monitor your progress and make sure the drug is working.
And you should know that these medication can have some serious and potentially life threatening side effects.
Symptoms of Depression
According to the
Journal of the American Medical Association, having at least 5 of these symptoms occurring nearly every day for at least 2 weeks indicates depression:
- Feeling sad or empty
- Decreased interest or pleasure in activities
- Appetite change with weight loss or weight gain
- Decreased or increased sleeping
- Fatigue or loss of energy
- Feeling worthless or guilty
- Being either agitated or slowed down
- Difficulty thinking or concentrating
- Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide
You can also take a
depression quiz which you can print out and take to your doctor to help you talk about your symptoms.
