How many americans are taking depression medications?
 

Any idea, or a link?
Its very interesting...

I read somewhere it is estimated that 11 percent of women and 5 percent of men do.

http://articles.cnn.com/2007-07-09/h...s?_s=PM:HEALTH

6 million men

3 women

Too many.
.

I dont know how the hell it is legal for doctors to give people that shit.

some people need it. I'm one of them.

approx 7/10.

Not enough??

Corruption at the very top, unfortunately. Telling people to take regular exercise or get a job they enjoy doesn't make the Pharms billions

1. not all doctors are corrupt.
2. not all jobs are enjoyable.
3. it IS possible to have a good doctor and a job that would be considered good & enjoyable by many, and still be clinically depressed.

The main source of the corruption is at a far higher level than the doctors, it is the 'cheque-book research' i.e. we pay you to do the safety tests and you know what results you have to come up with. The safety and effectiveness tests are not independent. The FDA is corrupt, they are no longer looking after the people.

The doctors do get encouraged to prescribe drugs in various ways (nice holidays etc), some will still use their own good principles. Some doctors will believe the safety and effectiveness tests, others know exactly what is going on.

Using drugs to beat depression should be the last resort after all else has failed. The real route of the problem should be discovered and addressed wherever possible. Instead so often drugs are the first solution offered. These drugs are then often banned within a number of years and replaced with something else similar which then eventually gets banned as well for making people more likely to commit suicide.

and many more commit suicide when all they needed was a simple pill to correct them. :2 cents:

That one could be debated for quite some time, but would be difficult to prove one way or the other

half this board I bet :1orglaugh

Does alcohol count?

Alcohol is a depressant; the opposite of an anti-depressant

Depends on the dose, you know!

not regularly, nor heavily.

haven't had any in a few months.

perfect meds for a dead and soulless culture.

This one is covered by Newton's Third Law

To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction

Can you explain me why would you be depressed? (Not talking about situations like you have serious disease or somebody from your family died or whatever similar). But how do you become depressed just out of the blue?
I never been depressed in my life (not talking about sadness when something bad happens) so I really do not understand.

And final note:

If I was depressed and doctor would prescribe me meds I would not take them because taking them will make me even more depressed. Because I would know that only drugs keeps my life going. That would be even more depressing than initial depression :( I would definitely would not take any "fun" drugs to "cure" depression because of that fact alone.

I heard that there are links between depression, heart attacks, kidney disease, and a lot of other physical ailments including increasing possibility of dementia by 87% after a single bout and 200% after two bouts.

Really bad news.

I've been on & off them for years... one thing i know for certain, i need to be on them, as well as a host of other shit. I do not function well on my own... and i've tried the healthy route too. Believe me, i'd love to be pill free, but it just ain't ever happening for me. But i don't speak for anyone else.

because without them i am a psychotic manic-depressive madman, and I don't say that to be funny or cool... if you'd ever seen me in person off meds, there would be zero doubt in your mind that i need to be medicated or locked up. I'm not going to go into the gory details.

Yes but the thing I don't really understand is that now you seem intelligent and you know that you are being psychotic without meds. But your brain is functioning when off meds? Why can't you "tell yourself" that "I need to be calm, all is good". It may sounds like a dumb question and I am not making fin or anything. I just want to understand :)

your brain "knows" your heart is beating.... can't you tell yourself to make it stop if you want?

if you're diabetic, your brain knows that too... can't you tell your body to make more insulin?

think about it.

I am not american but my definitive and most potent american anti depressive is this:

http://www.ci.sand-springs.ok.us/caf...ar%20Bills.jpg

I know a couple of Brits, who post here, who definitely need anti depressants. No clues or prizes for who I'm talking about. :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

During the darkest days of my fighting cancer I took Cypralex and anti depressant. It certainly kept me happy and probably stopped me from topping myself. The treatment was that hard.

Today I might sound down a bit on the boards, it's just the way I see an industry I love go down. But away from here I'm a real happy bunny.

http://www.advancedgraphics.com/stor...24_general.jpg

Like a pig... in a cage... on antibiotics.

Bt in your examples brain knows about heart and body and being crazy is in the brains. I mean its psychological condition and not physical like heart beating or being diabetic.

Anyway to finish it on more funny note - imagine you are off those meds and being all nalistic and someone on ICQ hits you up about some biz :) They would say like "who is this guy, its not the nice guy I spoke before" :)

"Story of a woman who didn't like the way her husband was handling the family finances. She wanted to start keeping the books herself but didn't want to insult her husband" - I think there are benefits to being independent and unmarried, such as: you don't have to have joint bank accounts. You could do your business yourself.

i like many

average of 8% , almost the same as unemployment rate minus off long term average unemployment rate

and you know this how exactly?

many doctors would disagree.

is your brain not a physical part of your body?

I agree with Amputate Your Head . Its a physical condition in the brain. With unbalanced chemicals, so yes its physical!

a good number end up actually doing themselves in because of the pill too.

i would argue that they took the wrong pill.

there are more than one type, and not every one of them works on every person.

i know this from experience.

i would agree but at that point, its kind of moot.

only due to lack of understanding.

many folks simply try one form of medication and when it doesn't work, they feel like nothing will. Doctors need to educate as well as prescribe. :2 cents:

Enough to show up in our drinking water...

I feel I am borderline depressed .I thought there would be more to life .pissed off at the world and never satisfied.I refuse to succumb to prescription drugs in order to cope.So I remain a miserable prick,until I bang some speedballs to make it go away for awhile.I'm not mocking people who have a chemical imbalance either