Antidepressants Case Study

Antidepressants

Just about everyone is diagnosed as being medically depressed; so just about everyone is on an antidepressant. Your neighbor, mother, father, sister, brother, husband/wife, girlfriend/boyfriend, daughter, sister, or even you might be on an antidepressant. Pharmaceutical companies con people into using antidepressants by advertising it as something that will make us normal or accepted by society. Studies have proven that antidepressants are ineffective, addictive and, accompanied by serious side effects. The illness does not exist in the symptoms of depression because the symptoms of depression are states of being and feelings that we all as human beings experience from time to time; the illness is found in the antidepressants and their side effects. (I/P) Should depression be treated by medication? (C/P) No, depression should not be treated medication.

(R1) Pharmaceutical companies use a lot of ambiguities in their marketing of antidepressants. Pharmaceutical companies take advantage of people's insecurities in the promotion of antidepressants. They use vague words that can be interpreted in a variety of ways; these ambiguous words are what strike at people's insecurities. The symptoms of depression that they advertise could apply to anyone: constant sadness, irritability, hopelessness, trouble sleeping, low energy or fatigue, feeling worthless or guilty for no reason, significant weight change, difficulty concentrating and, loss of interest in favorite activities ("Symptoms of Depression"). I don't know anyone who's not felt some of these symptoms recently; part of being human is to feel these emotions at times and depending on what the circumstances are, some people will feel them for longer periods of time or more often than not. Mckinlay speaks about the "manufacturer's of illness" (pharmaceutical companies) and what they do: "Artificial needs are manufactured, the fulfilling of which becomes absolutely essential if one is to be a meaningful and useful member of society. The idea here is that if a person does not do X, or will not do X, then they are either deficient in some important respect, or they are some kind of liability of the social system" (487). Who would not want to live in a perfect world where they never felt the aforementioned symptoms? Pharmaceutical companies, through their advertisement, make you believe that feeling those feelings are inhuman and not socially acceptable; they tell you there is a way to get rid of these feelings: their antidepressants. Through these marketing schemes they keep people conscious of these quasi-health concerns that they say can only be solved by antidepressants which are ineffective and harmful.

(R2) D¬¬¬¬¬epression medications only offer temporary relief and have serious side effects. Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors are a method used to treat depression.