SSRI drugs (Prozac) report mentioned at capital

[tabberski]

I agree with everyone, and caution is the best direction to take. I am lucky enough to have the oppurtunity to speak with professionals in the medical community and learn from their experiences. Too much or too little is bad news, any medical treatment designed for the modification of a persons mental wellbeing needs to be monitored and evaluated. Bartender, Cap 100 w/diet Coke please! Great dialog guys.

[EAJuggalo]

The study regarding video games was done by the university of Indiana.

Minor nit to pick. The University of Indiana is in Pennsylvania, the school you're referring to is Indiana University.

[LePetomane]

Half of the legislators are probably on them. A good friend (retired neurologist) informs me that the antidepressants are way over prescribed to people who do not meet the clinical criteria for depression. It's fashionable for some to be on a ******* of meds. What are these drugs doing to their heads? Same with pain medications. Oxycodone is one of the most commonly prescribed drug. What does this say about our society?

[MJY65]

Half of the legislators are probably on them. A good friend (retired neurologist) informs me that the antidepressants are way over prescribed to people who do not meet the clinical criteria for depression. What are these drugs doing to their heads? Same with pain medications. Oxycodone is one of the most commonly prescribed drug. What does this say about our society?

Given the statistics, it's a good bet that you are right about several of the legislators being on them. So what? I would bet that you have several coworkers, friends, relatives who are also on them without your knowing about it. SSRIs are used for more than just depression. My daughter has benefitted greatly from them to help her with panic attacks, so it gets me a bit upset when people make them out to be some kind of evil concoction of the drug companies. I take meds to regulate my cholesterol. My daughter takes hers to regulate Serotonin in her brain. We both are better off for it. As far as what it says about our society, I'm not sure that it says anything more than generations of people stopping at bars or having a drink to relax when they come home from work. In fact, I would say the self administration of alcohol is a far bigger problem than SSRIs. Just to be clear, I'm not suggesting prohibiting either one.. Responsible usage is the key to both.

[tabberski]

This subject did come up on MN News Talk today 103.5 FM. Tony Cornish was on also. I appreciate and enjoy their perspective, banter, and tomfoolery. They get the message out there to the Comm. It was their perspective also that this is a can of worms that shouldn't be opened. Regulation would be near impossible. BTW Tony for what you have done for us, I owe you a beer or two for your work.

[LePetomane]

Responsible usage is the key to both.

I could not agree with you more. What I object to is the off label use of these drugs for conditions that should not even be classified as diseases. The most recent DSM listed several behaviors and emotions and classified them as illness. Take "Oppositional Defiance Disorder" for example. Psychiatric term for a kid whose parents will not discipline him. Should psychiatrists be medicating these kids? Seasonal Affective Disorder is another one. If it does exist it is due to melatonin and vitamin D. Why are people (especially women) on SSRI's for it?

[Mn01r6]

Responsible usage is the key to both.

I could not agree with you more. What I object to is the off label use of these drugs for conditions that should not even be classified as diseases. The most recent DSM listed several behaviors and emotions and classified them as illness. Take "Oppositional Defiance Disorder" for example. Psychiatric term for a kid whose parents will not discipline him. Should psychiatrists be medicating these kids? Seasonal Affective Disorder is another one. If it does exist it is due to melatonin and vitamin D. Why are people (especially women) on SSRI's for it?

You are simplifying both of these diagnoses to the level of the absurd. In the old days, yes, a parent might have just beat the crap out of an ODD kid and "fixed" him or sent him to a military boarding school like St. Thomas High School used to be for wealthy Chicagoans. Is that really what you want? Diet and exercise can prevent a heart attack, but once the situation has degraded to the point of actually having an MI, is your preferred treatment to give a lecture on taking preventative measures or to do a bypass? The treatment for ODD is medication plus behavior modification for the family, but medication is necessary until the other changes are made, if at all. Some parents just don't care enough to change or don't think they are doing anything wrong. Some insurance companies don't pay for the therapy, only the drugs. Some parents can't take the time off work to go to family therapy. And some kids have ODD despite having the best parents in the world.

Doctors generally prescribe what works, and people don't generally sit in front of a full spectrum light for the required amount of time and change diet/exercise enough to combat SAD. Just like they don't generally cut out high cholesterol foods instead of going on Lipitor (or they do a little of both). My brother in law went from a cholesterol level of 240 down to 175 by becoming vegan and biking hundreds of miles each week, but most people just eat a Big Mac and chase it with Lipitor and Zantac.

Off-label prescribing just means that the drug hasn't been approved by the FDA as treating a specific condition, even if it is a known side effect of the drug reported in the research done on it when it was approved by the FDA. It takes many years and millions of dollars to get it approved for another purpose, and often isn't worthwhile for the drug company if the market for the new use is small. Viagra would be just another blood pressure medication (as it was originally intended) if they hadn't realized one of the "side effects" was something a lot of older men (and possibly their wives) would "appreciate".

Applying a double standard to diseases of the brain than to diseases of other parts of the body is wrong.

[LePetomane]

You are simplifying both of these diagnoses to the level of the absurd. In the old days, yes, a parent might have just beat the crap out of an ODD kid and "fixed" him or sent him to a military boarding school like St. Thomas High School used to be for wealthy Chicagoans.

What in my post gives you the ridiculous idea that I think the only effective discipline is to "just beat the crap out of an ODD kid? My wife and I raised two good kids, one is a metallurgist and the other just finished training in the military for an advanced position. Contrary to what you probably have assumed by now I never raised a hand to either of them. So when I mention discipline I don't refer to physical confrontation.

[Mn01r6]

You are simplifying both of these diagnoses to the level of the absurd. In the old days, yes, a parent might have just beat the crap out of an ODD kid and "fixed" him or sent him to a military boarding school like St. Thomas High School used to be for wealthy Chicagoans.

What in my post gives you the ridiculous idea that I think the only effective discipline is to "just beat the crap out of an ODD kid? My wife and I raised two good kids, one is a metallurgist and the other just finished training in the military for an advanced position. Contrary to what you probably have assumed by now I never raised a hand to either of them. So when I mention discipline I don't refer to physical confrontation.

I used both physical abuse and boarding schools as examples of "days of old" remedies to problematic children. I did not ever mean to imply that you had done either to your kids - I didn't even know you had kids.

I stand by my previous response.