Antidepressant use doubles during Bush presidency

Thorn said:
You may be confusing physiological tolerance with addiction. I have known a very small proportion of patients who abused their antidepressant prescriptions, but pharmacologically those drugs simply do not fit the profile of drugs with significant addictive potential.

Antidepressant drugs have a therapeutic lag (time from taking the first pill until the therapeutic effect begins to emerge) of between two and three weeks. This is not consistent with an effect associated with addiction.

Anything a person ingests may alter the biochemistry in such a manner such that abrupt discontinuation after prolonged, regular use will produce some sort of withdrawal effects. Some are mild, some are outright dangerous (as w/d effects of benzodiazepines, for instance). The extended therapeutic lag associated with antidepressants is consistent with mild or no significant withdrawal effects, but if the drug is discontinued while the patient still has need of it there will be unpleasant consequences.
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are you actually arguing that the withdrawal affects and getting used to the drugs, eg., affect of good moods or whatever it produces cannot form an addiction? i think the majority of studies that conclude otherwise are paid for by big pharma....
 
cawacko said:
Man, I take an anti-depressent and if I go two or three days in a row without taking it my body goes through serious withdrawls and acts all crazy. Sucks.
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Your withdrawal symptoms most likely are the opposite of the side effects, no? Dry mouth, etc.? But the medication itself doesn't make you feel euphoric or high. Just levels you out, helps your energy levels, etc.

One thing that can help if you've forgotten to take it and are going through what you described is to take Vitamin B Complex tablets, including B6. It does not substitute for your antidepressant but should help you get over the physical hump until the meds kick in again.
 
Yurt said:
are you actually arguing that the withdrawal affects and getting used to the drugs, eg., affect of good moods or whatever it produces cannot form an addiction? i think the majority of studies that conclude otherwise are paid for by big pharma....
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I am saying, with authority by the way, that physiological tolerance is not a significant factor in addiction. I'm not about to write a textbook here. You can develop a physiological tolerance to any substance that you take regularly and fairly often. This is completely independent of the addictive potential of a drug and can and does occur with drugs that are not in any way addictive. That is not to say that addictive substances don't also produce physiological tolerance; they do (case in point: heroin/morphine). But those effects are not related to the rewarding effects of the drug, and in fact are mediated by entirely discrete regions in the brain and viscera. I am thoroughly familiar with the scientific literature in this area.
 
Thorn said:
I am saying, with authority by the way, that physiological tolerance is not a significant factor in addiction. I'm not about to write a textbook here. You can develop a physiological tolerance to any substance that you take regularly and fairly often. This is completely independent of the addictive potential of a drug and can and does occur with drugs that are not in any way addictive. That is not to say that addictive substances don't also produce physiological tolerance; they do (case in point: heroin/morphine). But those effects are not related to the rewarding effects of the drug, and in fact are mediated by entirely discrete regions in the brain and viscera. I am thoroughly familiar with the scientific literature in this area.
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yeah, and currently the majority of studies support your view. however, not all studies do. they are and can be addictive...and people have become addicted but you guys want to claim it is insignificant.

http://www.psychiatry.info/victims-...nts-addictive-withdrawal-unbearable-for-some/
 
Thorn said:
Your withdrawal symptoms most likely are the opposite of the side effects, no? Dry mouth, etc.? But the medication itself doesn't make you feel euphoric or high. Just levels you out, helps your energy levels, etc.

One thing that can help if you've forgotten to take it and are going through what you described is to take Vitamin B Complex tablets, including B6. It does not substitute for your antidepressant but should help you get over the physical hump until the meds kick in again.
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I've only gone a few days in a row without taking it a couple of times. I started to feel real light headed and dizzy is what I remember most. I have ADD so that's what I take it for.
 
The increase in Anti-Depressant use can likely be explained by the fact that now even younger children (as young as 3 now) are diagnosed as clinically depressed and given drugs. Not kidding.

"Advances" in psychiatry have found that they were "wrong" to say that children under six are not emotionally mature enough to have this disease...
 
Damocles said:
The increase in Anti-Depressant use can likely be explained by the fact that now even younger children (as young as 3 now) are diagnosed as clinically depressed and given drugs. Not kidding.

"Advances" in psychiatry have found that they were "wrong" to say that children under six are not emotionally mature enough to have this disease...
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This is disturbing, in part because many of these diagnoses are being made by GPs (the family doctor) who are writing the prescriptions; no psychiatrist is consulted. Too many physicians take a cursory look at a patient, and without further examination, just throw pills at what may or may not be a problem. I suspect that many of the pediatric patients have been diagnosed not necessarily with depression but with "social anxiety disorder", when in fact they may simply be shy for any of a number of non-physiological reasons. Antidepressants are also prescribed for this condition, which may be legitimate in some cases, but is clearly overdiagnosed.

It may be that a subpopulation of very young children may be susceptible to endogenous depression, but if it is suspected, then referral should be made to a psychiatrist specifically trained in this specialized area, and should not be left up to the family physician, who is not at all qualified to make the final determination. If the patient had any of hundreds or even thousands of other conditions, referral to a specialist would be automatic. Why not this, then?
 
Thorn said:
This is disturbing, in part because many of these diagnoses are being made by GPs (the family doctor) who are writing the prescriptions; no psychiatrist is consulted. Too many physicians take a cursory look at a patient, and without further examination, just throw pills at what may or may not be a problem. I suspect that many of the pediatric patients have been diagnosed not necessarily with depression but with "social anxiety disorder", when in fact they may simply be shy for any of a number of non-physiological reasons. Antidepressants are also prescribed for this condition, which may be legitimate in some cases, but is clearly overdiagnosed.

It may be that a subpopulation of very young children may be susceptible to endogenous depression, but if it is suspected, then referral should be made to a psychiatrist specifically trained in this specialized area, and should not be left up to the family physician, who is not at all qualified to make the final determination. If the patient had any of hundreds or even thousands of other conditions, referral to a specialist would be automatic. Why not this, then?
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Because the US doesn't take psychological illness seriously enough.
 
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