The drugs don't work: Opinion Piece
Charles
miserable, but let's swap the pills for support and care
* Comment is free
The drugs don't work
The number of people on antidepressants is soaring � we may be more
miserable, but let's swap the pills for support and care
, Monday 29 June 2009 12.00 BST
It may have been the happiest day of the year on 19 June, but we are
already into the hangover. Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats
reveal that antidepressant prescription numbers are going through the
roof � 36m scripts were handed out to patients in England last year, a
rise of 2.1m on 2007. That's almost one for every adult. Lib Dem
health spokesman Norman Lamb is right to describe the figures as
"deeply disturbing".
Lamb has demanded improved help for people whose problems are
recession-related. It's true that financial woes create more distress,
but we shouldn't use the economy as a smokescreen for what is a
longer-term malaise. Antidepressant use has been going up for years �
prescriptions have more than tripled since the early 1990s. We have
not become a Prozac nation overnight.
So what is going on? Are we genuinely becoming more miserable? That's
part of the story � according to official statistics, the percentage
of people with a "common mental disorder (pdf)" increased from 15.5%
in 1993 to 17.6% in 2007 (that's a million extra unhappy people across
the UK). Some of these inevitably wind up at the GP surgery, seeking
relief.
But perhaps more instructive is what happens next. Most GPs respond to
mental health problems by reaching for the prescription pad, even
though guidelines from the National Institute For Clinical Excellence
generally recommend psychological therapies. To some extent, doctors
do this because they have little choice � more than three-quarters
have prescribed medication despite thinking an alternative would be
more appropriate. Most do so because there are no other options
available � decent psychotherapy services are still few and far
between, and often have long waiting lists.
<more>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/29/antidepressants-drugs
Charles
Stormin Mormon
--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
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"Charles" <ckr...@SPAMTRAP.west.net> wrote in message
news:de7j45dpm67vrmdrk...@4ax.com...
Sorry,wrong group.