If you were living in a dark world of sadness, worthlessness and hopelessness, and all it took was a doctor’s signature to find light again, would you take it? According to Proquest Database, depression is a serious mental condition, symptoms include; extreme feelings of sadness, worthlessness or hopelessness, fatigue, irritability, loss of appetite, inability to concentrate, and insomnia or excessive sleeping. This paper will examine the pro, con and my viewpoint on should antidepressant drugs be subscribed for children suffering from depression?
To begin with, the pro viewpoint in antidepressant drugs can improve their quality of life. For example, numbers show an upswing in suicide attempts as antidepressant use fell 20%. Christine Y. Lu, …show more content…
The National Institute of Mental Health observes that there was no increase in completed suicides nor any effect in people older than 29. This study shows once again that there is no correlation between medication and suicide. Steven Soumerai, a Harvard professor says, “Yes it starts with the warning but what is really driving the behavior and the fear is more the media.” Soumerai is pointing out the fact that the fear of antidepressant drugs stems mainly from stigma caused by the media rather than actual facts about the medicine. Another example, children are put on medication for a number of different reasons, so why is there such a stigma about depression medication? Janet Wozniak, a psychiatrist at Harvard says, “But parents also need to consider that there may be a downside to not medicating and missing an opportunity to interrupt the course of a serious illness.” Medication can make life easier for those suffering. Robert Post, a professor of Psychiatry states that there is no question about being medicated for asthma or epilepsy, but a huge concern on mental illness medication. As you can see, it would be cruel to withhold medication from an asthmatic, but due to social stigma, it is not cruel to withhold medication from a mental …show more content…
Antidepressant medications can improve a person’s quality of life. Numbers show that suicide attempts went up as antidepressant use went down. Although, studies also show that antidepressant meds can lead to suicidal thoughts and terrible symptoms. My viewpoint is that antidepressant medication should be prescribed to those who need it. When people have asthma, we give them an inhaler, when people have epilepsy we give them tranquilizers, so it is cruel and unreasonable to deny a depressed person medicine to improve their quality of
To begin with, the pro viewpoint in antidepressant drugs can improve their quality of life. For example, numbers show an upswing in suicide attempts as antidepressant use fell 20%. Christine Y. Lu, …show more content…
The National Institute of Mental Health observes that there was no increase in completed suicides nor any effect in people older than 29. This study shows once again that there is no correlation between medication and suicide. Steven Soumerai, a Harvard professor says, “Yes it starts with the warning but what is really driving the behavior and the fear is more the media.” Soumerai is pointing out the fact that the fear of antidepressant drugs stems mainly from stigma caused by the media rather than actual facts about the medicine. Another example, children are put on medication for a number of different reasons, so why is there such a stigma about depression medication? Janet Wozniak, a psychiatrist at Harvard says, “But parents also need to consider that there may be a downside to not medicating and missing an opportunity to interrupt the course of a serious illness.” Medication can make life easier for those suffering. Robert Post, a professor of Psychiatry states that there is no question about being medicated for asthma or epilepsy, but a huge concern on mental illness medication. As you can see, it would be cruel to withhold medication from an asthmatic, but due to social stigma, it is not cruel to withhold medication from a mental …show more content…
Antidepressant medications can improve a person’s quality of life. Numbers show that suicide attempts went up as antidepressant use went down. Although, studies also show that antidepressant meds can lead to suicidal thoughts and terrible symptoms. My viewpoint is that antidepressant medication should be prescribed to those who need it. When people have asthma, we give them an inhaler, when people have epilepsy we give them tranquilizers, so it is cruel and unreasonable to deny a depressed person medicine to improve their quality of