Americans Double Down on Antidepressants
The number of Americans who are exploring the concept of better living through antidepressant chemistry nearly doubled in the decade from 1996 to 2005, according to a study published in Archives of General Psychiatry -- and that was well before the economic meltdown.
The number of Americans who are exploring the concept of better living through antidepressant chemistry nearly doubled in the decade from 1996 to 2005, according to a study published in Archives of General Psychiatry — and that was well before the economic meltdown.
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Among users of antidepressants, the percentage receiving psychotherapy fell from 31.5% to less than 20%, the study says. About 80% of patients were treated by doctors other than psychiatrists.
Patients today may be more likely to ask about antidepressant advertising, says study author Mark Olfson of Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. During the study, spending on direct-to-consumer antidepressant ads increased from $32 million to $122 million.
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An interview with Johann Hari, the author of a groundbreaking new book on the roots of depression.
Antidepressants are wildly popular in the United States, where one in 10 people take them. The problem is that they sometimes cause what's called suicidal ideation -- thoughts of suicide.
England's Division of Clinical Psychology, which represents more than 10,000 practitioners, has criticized the latest edition of the field's leading diagnostic manual for its categorizing of normal behaviors -- such as shyness in children and depression after the death of a loved one -- as medical problems treatable with drugs.
Gus Speth, environmental lawyer, former Clinton adviser and founder of the Washington, D.C.-based World Resources Institute, who was arrested Sunday at the White House while protesting a proposed oil pipeline, has some bad news for American optimists. (more)
A serious conversation is under way in the United States on the subject of psychiatric drugs The debate consists of three fundamental issues: first, whether antidepressants actually treat depression; second, the vast, growing body of evidence that psychotropic medications (more).
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