These days, it seems that parenting (especially mothering) without the aid
of anti-depressants is as unusual as parenting without an apron and a cocktail
in the 1950s. As use of antidepressants soars (according to some reports, use
of serotonin reuptake inhibitors-SSRIs- such as Prozac, Zoloft, and
Celexa tripled between 1994 and 2002), and the warnings about the relationship
between use
of SSRIs before age 25 is linked to increased suicidal thoughts, questions
remain about the effectiveness of these drugs. According to some studies,
only 30% of people prescribed anti-depressants actually achieve positive
results from their first prescription. Since the majority of patients
receive their prescriptions from their primary care doctor and fail to combine
treatment with exercise and therapy -- as is recommended, it is clear that
these drugs aren't the perfect answer to depression they were originally
thought to provide.
Leaving aside Tom Cruise's
take on the issue (it's the vitamins, stupid), one is left wondering, would we
all be better off reinstituting a nice cocktail hour or mandatory daily orgasms
and laying off the prescription drugs? I know at first it seems silly and
insensitive to propose to address real depression with a depression-inducing
substance or a roll-in-the-hay, but I'm talking about borderline cases --- the
existential angst of adulthood, versus the
can't-get-out-of-bed-should-I-end-it-all experience of depression.
Given the side-effects of most SSRIs (weight gain, listlessness, numbness,
sexual dysfunction), are those of us struggling with cyclical, rather than
long-term clinical depression, really well advised to take the pills?
Maybe the overload of most adult lives -- mortgages, childcare, work, cleaning,
laundry -- would be better addressed by more fun and fewer prescriptions.
What do you think, Babblers?
