Another indication for antidepressants ?

Psychiatrists are debating whether or not to change the definition of depression in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. With 1 in 10 Americans currently on some type of antidepressant medication one has to wonder if this change would lead to another indication for Rx medications and expand the 11 billion market.

Anti-depressant use in the u.s. has jumped almost 400% in the last three-year period because it’s easier to treat the condition rather than the patient and patients want an instant fix in today’s time stressed environment.

Grief would be labeled a mental disorder under a proposed change in the diagnostic mark manual for the American Psychiatric Association so clinicians can consider the possibility of whether to treat a major depression in someone who’s recently bereaved.

Many fear the new label would lead to a dramatic increase in the use of anti-depressants, already taken by 1-10 americans, an $11 billion a year business as if you classify grief as a disorder, it becomes a target for treatment and for especially medication.

Grieving is part of life and I am sure that there are different levels of grief but the argument can be made that too many Americans are already on antidepressants and that classifying grief as a “mental disorder” could lead to expanded label indications for Rx medications.

Less than one-third of Americans taking one antidepressant and less than one-half of those taking multiple antidepressants have seen a mental-health professional in the past year.

We all want “instant fixes” for health problems but sooner or later someone has to have to the courage to say that there are no magic pills for certain types of health problems. It starts with professional counseling and or lifestyle changes and not everything comes in a prescription bottle.