Prompt Seven: Psychological Controversy

BY: SKYLLAR

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    This week I was watching the TV show “Prison Break”. One of the patients in the psych ward never took his medication. He referred to the pills as “handcuffs on his mind”. This made me think about my blog post topic and led me to find the controversy about whether pills are necessary for psych patients or not. When researching, I wanted to narrow it down to one psychiatric condition that involves medication rather than every condition. That would’ve been an extremely broad topic and each condition is different, meaning the way it is treated is different. I came across an article about whether depression should be treated with pills or not, and decided to use it.

Depression is serious, but common mood disorder leaving you feeling intense sadness. It can affect how you think, feel, and handle daily activities (“NIMH » Depression."). Depression affects several people and can be in treated in many ways, although using anti-depressants is one of the most common ways to treat it. According to Psychology Today, there are four main reasons why people take anti-depressant medications. These include, wanting to get rid of the feelings, not being fully informed of the medications’ side effects, not being informed of their relatively low rate of effectiveness, and not being informed by their doctor about alternative treatment options. The biggest risk of taking anti-depressant medication that doctors don’t always inform patients of is that they may become drug dependent and have a hard time getting off of the medication once they start. Alternative treatment options include speaking with a therapist, exercising, eating healthy, setting goals, challenging negative thoughts, taking supplements, and more. These are reasons why some people believe that medication is absolutely not necessary to treat depression.

The three different types of depression medication are Tricyclic drugs, Monoamine oxidase inhibitors, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Many people find that these drugs work very well to treat their depression. They’re rather effect for giving quick relief to cases of depression. Antidepressants are a hit or miss drug. For some people they work extremely well and for others they do not work at all. The medication works for about 60% of people who use them. For some, the medication sets their mind at ease and makes them believe that they are getting better even if the drugs aren’t actually doing anything.

The use of medication is completely up to the patient, but it is clear why it has become such a controversial topic. While some people deem it unnecessary, some patients still are having good results from using medications and some doctors still feel that anti-depressant medication should be an option.

"NIMH » Depression." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2016.

Heitler, Susan, PhD. "The Blues Is Depression. Should You Treat It With Pills?" Psychology Today. N.p., 27 Oct. 2011. Web. 29 Sept. 2016.