Fish1

MeganFish
Heilig
EnglishIHonors4
17March2016
WhyChildrenShouldNotBePrescribedDepressants
Antidepressantsareusedby3.7percentofadolescentsaged12to17.Yet1outof10
childrenarediagnosedwithaseverementaloremotionaldisorder,and6.3percentofthemdo
nothaveanykindofprescriptionfortheirdisease.Thereasoningbehindthisisduetothefact
thatantidepressantsareincrediblyharmfultoyoungindividualsandteens,andhavethepowerto
causelastingeffectsthatcannotbeundone.Medicatingchildrenhasbeenacontroversialtopic
eversincetheFDAblackboxedantidepressants,yettheconsideovercomestheprosof
opiatesinmostcases.Supportersarguethatantidepressantsideeffectsareinsignificant
comparedtotheirhealingpower,misdiagnosisisinferiorifmedicationishelping,and
adolescentswillneedantidepressantsfortheirwholelives,soaddictionisharmless.However,
themoresensiblesideoftheargumentportraysantidepressantsasonlyatemporaryand
ineffectivesolution.Theyareproventohavemanynegativesideeffects,andcauselongterm
diseasesamongpatients.Inaddition,depressantsarefrequentlygiventochildrenwhodonot
reallyneedthem,yethavebeenmisdiagnosedbytheirpediatrician.Themosteminentdetriment
ofmedicationishowtheirstrengtheasilycausesaddictioninchildren,andtheywillnotbeable
tofunctionwithoutthemlaterinlifeeveniftheirdepressionhasbeencompletelytreated.
Therefore,althoughmedicatingchildrencanhelpwithothermedicaldisordersandlowersuicide
rates,antidepressantsarecausemoredisadvantagessuchasnegativesideeffectsthathavea

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lastingresultonchildren,misdiagnosisthatplacesthelabelofdepressedonanunaffected
individual,andtheaddictionthatariseswhentreatingayoungchildwithheavymedication.
Antidepressantscauseadiverserangeofsideeffects,thatcanseverelyharman
adolescent.Evenifissuesarenotpresentduringbeginningyears,fatalisticlongtermproblems
mayarise.RachelKleinman,theauthorofanarticlefrom
TheAge
thatdealswithadolescents
anddrugdilemmas,writesthatantidepressantsideeffectsrangefrommildsymptomssuchas
nauseaandemotionalblunting.Notonlythese,butalsothefarmoreserioussuchassuicidal
behavior,manicepisodes,andincreasedhostilityandaggression.Forwhatdepressantsareused
totreat,theeffectsthatresultfromthedrugsprovetobefarmoredangerousthandepression
itself.Dr.Mercola,aphysicianwhodealswithpsychiatricpatients,alsodescribesinhisreport
howstudiesshowthatantidepressantsarelinkedtomanyserioushealthproblemssuchas
diabetes,stillbirths,brittlebones,andstroke.Oneofthemostprominentdepressants,Abilify,
hasover75differentsideeffectsassociated,fartoomuchforahelpfulsubstance(Mercola).
Althoughtheremaybenopresentissueswhenmedicationisfirststarted,anyoneofthese
disorderscouldoccurlaterinlife,andsubjectingchildrentothesehorrorscouldbefatalistic.
Antagonistsofthisideamayarguethatthosewhoaredepressedarelikelytocommitaformof
selfharmanyways,sowhyfretoverinsignificantsideeffects?However,BrJPsychiatry
concludesthat80%ofantidepressantdeathsareasuicide,andtheremaining20%producedby
otherfactors,showingthattheyarenotaseffectiveintreatingdepressionassupporterswould
think.Thesestatisticsstillshowahighmortalityrate,evenwhenusersareonantidepressants,
concludingthatmedicatingachildmaynotalwaysbethemostsensibleoption.

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Notonlydodepressantscausemanyhorrificeffectsandlifelongissues,thereisalsoa
highfrequencyofmisdiagnosisamongyoungerindividuals.Childrenwhoareunknowingly
misdiagnosedareplacedonmedicationthattheydonotneed,whichcausesmanycomplications.
Childrenandteensgetputonantidepressantsintoocasualofaway,saysR.ScottBenson,and
thereisnothoroughevaluationofthatchildsproblems(Painter).
Thisshowsthatpractitioners
makehastewithprescribingmedication,anddonottakenecessarycaution.KorinaLopez,the
authorofaninformativearticlefrom
USAToday
,explainsthatteensandyoungeradolescents
tendtohavemorefrequentoutbursts,anditisnotalwaysclearatayoungagewhetherthesefits
areearlysignsofadisease.Alongwiththis,shewritesthattreatingayoungindividualwith
heavymedicationcanhavefarreachingimplications.Prescribingachildwithpowerfulnarcotics
withoutfullyunderstandingtheirdisorderisnotapracticalactionforapediatrician,anddoingso
willhadmorehardshipstothepatientsissues.Thosewhoareagainsttheconceptofpreventing
misdiagnosismayclaimthatiftheindividualishavingtheseepisodes,thenantidepressantsmay
beasolutioneveniftheydonothavethedisease.Butattheratethatdepressionisfalsely
diagnosed,thisisnotasafeassumption.Studiesshowthat
aGPinaruralpracticewould
encounter10truecasesofdepressionin100patients,wouldcorrectlyidentify5casesand
wouldmisdiagnose17nondepressedpatientswithdepressionproducingafalsepositiverateof
17percent(Kelly).ThestatisticsforaGPinanurbanareaareevenworse,disbandingtheidea
thatmisdiagnosisisnotveryserious,andprovingthatthereshouldbemoreprecautionstaken
whenevaluatingapatient.
Misdiagnosisisfrequent,butdrugsfordepressionallowyoungchildrentobecomeeasily
addicted,alongwithnotbeingabletofunctionwithoutthepills.Onceanindividualistaking

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antidepressantsforalongperiodoftime,discontinuationisdifficult.Emily,a28yearold
womanwhohasbeentakingdepressantssincetheageof14,describesapainfuldesiretoknow
whatshewouldbelikewithoutthemedication.Howevershedoubtsthatshewouldbeableto
withstandthepressuresofherjobwithoutit(Sharpe).Thisfirsthandaccountportrayshow
medicationcausesuserstobecomeemotionallyweaker,alongwithnotbeingabletofunction
underpressure.Antidepressantsarenotonlythecauseofamentalneedformedication,butthere
isalsoaphysicaldemand.TheDanishHealthandMedicinesAuthorityperformedanexperiment
involvingthediscontinuationofantidepressants,concludingthatdoingsoresultsininsomnia,
nausea,disturbedsenseoftouch,andfeelingsofelectricalshockstothehead(Secher).These
symptomsaremuchlikethosethatanaddictexperienceswhengoingthroughwithdrawal,which
makesanindividualquestiontherealbenefitsofantidepressants.Advocatesforantidepressants
statethatdepressedadolescentswillmostlikelyneedtobemedicatedfortheremainderoftheir
lives,sowhatistheharm?However,theDepressionandBipolarSupportAlliancehasconcluded
that80%ofthosetreatedfordepressionshowagreatimprovementwithinfourtosixweeks.As
longasanindividualisseekinghelp,itisalmostcertainthattheirdepressionwilleventually
becomeinsignificant.Yetbecomingphysicallyandemotionallyattachedtomedicationwill
causealifelongburdenamongusers.
Analyzingtheseargumentsprovesthatprescribingmedicationtoyoungchildrenand
teensisnotthebestsolutionfordepression.Antidepressantsareresponsibleforseveralharmful
sideeffects,andhaveanimpactonanadolescentshealthinthefuture.Notonlyaredepressants
harmful,butmostchildrenshouldnothavebeensubjectedtothehorrificoutcomesatall,and
theyarefrequentlymisdiagnosed.Physicalandemotionaldesiresformedicationaredeveloped

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aswell,anduserscommonlydependondepressantsmorethantheyshould.Thesedownsides
demonstratethesensibilityofthe6.3percentofchildrenmentionedearliernotbeingmedicated,
alongwiththehorrificoutcomesthattheremaining3.7percentaresubjectedto.