Prozac

After discontinuing Prozac several patients have observed feeling more energetic and ambitious.  It made me think of a footnote from the Prozac best seller:

At the end of Listening to Prozac (1993), the book that catapulted Prozac into 35 million customers, there is a footnote that questions  "...whether antidepressants . . .promote tumor growth:" ... "The study raised questions as to whether antidepressants might be dangerous to patients who already have cancer or who have some exposure to carcinogens." 
Although there were some problems with the study  "...it serves as a reminder that, despite extensive testing before drugs are introduced, concerns can arise about medications many years ....after their introduction."

This footnote stuck in my mind, and I wish it had been more than a footnote- more like a red flag!

Prozac and other medications help some people function better. But what risks are people willing to take to feel better? How will our children fare when they grow older?

"More recently, results of a comprehensive review of pediatric trials conducted between 1988 and 2006 suggested that the benefits of antidepressant medications likely outweigh their risks to children and adolescents with major depression and anxiety disorders."
In the FDA review, no completed suicides occurred among nearly 2,200 children treated with SSRI medications. However, about 4 percent of those taking SSRI medications experienced suicidal thinking or behavior, including actual suicide attempts—twice the rate of those taking placebo, or sugar pills. The study, partially funded by NIMH, was published in the April 18, 2007, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.1"   http://1.usa.gov/HtIrO

A new study published in the journal Endocrinology reveals that giving Prozac to children may result in a loss of bone mass. http://www.naturalnews.com/002365.html

We are becoming more phobic about living with depression and anxiety, trying to mask it rather than struggle and resolve the problems that cause these symptoms. Shouldn't medication if necessary  be a short term intervention to help a person function rather than a long term solution?

Robert Whitaker has 2 books out that address the dangers of psychiatric medication- Mad in America and Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America. They are worth reading.