More People Are Taking Antidepressants, But Fewer Are In Therapy
Posted by: Nikki Dowling
Filed in:
news
1:30PM, Tuesday August 4th 2009
Looks like, as a country, we’re feeling the blues. A new study shows that, since 1996, the number of people taking antidepressants has doubled. These days, about one out of every ten people in the U.S. is poppin’ depression meds. Oddly enough, during the same period, the number of people seeing psychiatrists has decreased by over ten percent. So, what’s up with this seemingly contradictory trend?
Let’s face it, therapy is expensive and a lot of insurance companies don’t cover it. So rather than heading to psychiatrists, people go directly to their doctors, who are giving out prescriptions more readily, regardless of whether they have extensive mental health training or not. Since new fangled antidepressants have fewer side effects and are much safer than ever before, many docs are more comfortable dishing ‘em out.
Advertising has also played a huge role here, too. Pharmaceutical companies have increased the amount they spend on antidepressant marketing from $32 million to $122 million. So, peeps who are feeling down and out are more likely to know what’s out there and ask the doctor about it. [USA Today]
Do you think we are becoming a pill poppin’ culture, or does this prescription increase make sense?
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general714
wrote on August 4 2009 @ 12:58 pm: [report]
Ideally the best thing to do is use medication to relieve your symptoms and talk therapy to get to the root of the issue. It’s unfortunate that therapy isn’t covered under insurance. With my insurance they will reimburse you, but if I claim it through my insurance and I ever try and get health insurance on my own (say I become self-employed) I cannot get covered for up to 5 years because I was in therapy. So ridiculous. Therapy is a definite lifesaver in my book. The antidepressants took care of my anxiety, but the therapy really helped me get a handle on the situation, too bad people are shying away from something so beneficial because it costs to darn much!
evelintha
wrote on August 4 2009 @ 01:00 pm: [report]
i think its great that people are getting help if they are depressed and taking anti-depressants. but there is no point in taking the pills if your not going to see a therapist on a regular basis or you will never get to the root of the problem.
lilrockgoddess4u
wrote on August 4 2009 @ 01:43 pm: [report]
It’s important to do both. If you can’t afford a therapist, do what I do, go to my local Mental Health Center. All states have a Department of Mental Health that will help you get the therapy and meds that you need.
Raugiel
wrote on August 4 2009 @ 02:55 pm: [report]
Over-prescribing medications without therapy can result in people taking anti-depressant meds in order to stay in unhealthy situations (whether they realize it is unhealthy or just think that they should be happy and aren’t). Therapy first. Medication second, if at all (in most cases).
aries3_04
wrote on August 4 2009 @ 03:58 pm: [report]
this is a good topic. I agree with everyone’s posts here. It also seems that in this society, mental health hasn’t been considered a part of “health care” for quite some time - now it’s the norm to see ads about antidepressants but there’s some kind of stigma (still) associated with seeing the ‘shrink’ because one is ‘crazy’. Pharma seems to have lurched on to this direct-to-consumer marketing and it’s working in their benefit.
I also think (at least with primary care providers) that it is all that they can do to help a patient, and then make the referral to a mental health professional - but a lot of times that just doesn’t work (which goes back to the lack of health insurance for those conditions). Hopefully things will change….
LauraRB
wrote on August 4 2009 @ 06:13 pm: [report]
I think this trend is the result of that fact that there is nothing wrong with these people to talk out! Everytime I see an ad for a new medication to fix what’s “wrong” I just wonder when we’ll see Soma on the market (Brave New World). People aren’t perfect! Sometimes, everyone gets down; sometimes, everyone has a hard time concentrating (especially in our high stimulus world); sometimes, everyone’s legs jitter, sometimes; everyone feels anxious. We don’t all have to be happy, relaxed, and able to concentate all the time! But the very fact that these ads bombard us (remember when prescriptions ads on TV couldn’t actually say what issue the mediation addressed?) makes people feel like there is something wrong with them because they aren’t happy all the stinking time! And the fact that everyone seems to need these pills, really detracts from the need of those people who really are clinically depressed and at risk…
Dave The Rave
wrote on August 4 2009 @ 06:50 pm: [report]
I think people are sometimes being over-medicated. Something hurts, “take a pill”. You feel lousy, “there’s a pill for that”. My father is on SEVEN meds and when asked, the doctor said he “needs all of them”. Bull!!!
Where I work, our insurance covers most mental health issues. If we go thru their services, we get the first three visits at no cost to us and after that it is a $15 co-pay. I went once, went back to go over the results and that was that. I’m fine.
As for med side effects, one med I take has a very serious side effect. All I heard years ago was that I was wrong. Now, I tell my doctor - ‘I told you this years ago when it was happening to me.’ No answer, since he knew he was wrong!
If you need help, it is out there. You just need to know where to look and then go from there.
bogart4017
wrote on August 5 2009 @ 11:49 am: [report]
How are you going to get well if you don’t seek therapy. Most companies will cover you medically for it and some will grant you paid leave if you need extensive or intense (five days a week) therapy.
Coral
wrote on August 5 2009 @ 03:26 pm: [report]
I also think many of the people taking anti-depressants are not really using them for that purpose. Anti-depressants are addictive and just one of the many types of prescription pills that people abuse. So that is just another reason why the amount of people going to therapy is lower.