High doses of antidepressants — selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as Prozac or Zoloft — may raise the risk of suicidal behavior in children and young adults, according to a recent study CBS News reported.
The kids aren’t alright..
But the logic of this story was already in our brains. We are a highly medicated society—adults and children. Not a moment on TV goes by that there’s not an advertisement for adult over the counter drugs to help moods or improve sex lives. Often those ads show an elderly couple in a bathtub together—all the while quickly talking voices are telling how men can have heart attacks. So try it today.
I actually would not be surprised if morning cartoon shows will soon feature ads for antidepressants..
The money quote:
For the study, researchers analyzed data from 162,625 people - between the ages of 10 and 64 years - with depression who started antidepressant treatment with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor at modal (the most prescribed doses on average) or at higher than modal doses from 1998 through 2010.
In all seriousness, how many times does it come out that active shooters are hooked on medicine?
Perhaps there’s no 100% rule on the matter, but it sure is interesting that the kids who smoke pot or go to parties in the woods to drink beer seemingly aren’t the villains of these heinous acts. Instead, it seems to always be the ones who are seeing doctors, legit doctors, who are prescribing drugs that a child would never be able to spell, let alone pronounce, during a spelling bee.
1 in 25 kids in the United States (that’s 2011 numbers, too) are on some form of mood changing drug. Many of them are under the age of 12—and many more are under the age of 5.
Are antidepressants always bad? No.
Are they overused?
The numbers tell the story more than any opinionated author on a website.
High Doses of Antidepressants Linked To Self-Harm In Children, Young Adults
