You make some excellent points in your article, but you lose credibility when you don't balance the argument. There are positives to anti-depressants. Where I live, doctors ask a lot of questions before putting someone on anti-depressants. They all cover the above situations. The issue isn't medication, it's the over-medication and over-diagnosis.

ADHD is real. Depression is real. That doesn't mean everyone has them, but you do a disservice to those who do with an article like this. I am recovering from depression and I can tell you that there is a significant and noticeable difference between having a bad day and being depressed. It's a completely different feeling.

Before I spoke to a doctor I was in this altered mental state 100% of the time. Now, thanks to anti-depressants I'm in that state about 5% of the time. I feel bad about 25% of the time, but 20% of that is just bad news, bad day or some other bad thing that's happening. The 5% that is depression is something completely different. It is inescapable, dark and physically heavy. Most people won't experience it so it's difficult to describe. I've been bummed out a lot in my life, it happens to us all, but this is on a whole other level. Depression is not feeling "really bad", it's a change in your brain that affects everything you think about. It's apples and oranges. While the outer symptoms look like someone is just really, really sad, the experience doesn't really fit on a scale of sadness. It's like asking how fast that car weighs. It's something completely different that requires medical, psychological and pharmacological help.

Once again, the problem is not with the use of these medications. It's with their over-use.

for some people, from day to day their mood rests around 1 or 2, and antidepressants at least allow 1 or 2 points to be added to that. it's no euphoric trip that blocks out problems, it barely sustains the balance enough to make life livable.

I'll make only 1 simple point -

The plural of anecdote is not data.

The viewpoint you have expressed is so ignorant I am baffled. Surely you don't think that anti-depressants were the proper treatment for such deeply troubled smass murderers? I am amazed that University of Wisconsin has allowed someone to become a Junior who is obviously so ill-educated. I'd suggest that University of Wisconsin require you to read both scientific and medical material on depression and mental health before allowing you to maltriculate. On the bright side, I'm sure your career with the National Enquirer will be a cinch once you show them this fine journalistic article.

The reason why suicide is up is b/c antidepressants, at least during the first week that you're on them, actually make your symptoms worse. Then, after that period you feel better, on a cloud, but during the getting on/off phase whatever your demons are become worse. For most people, their demons aren't that bad. Depression, anxiety and the like. For others, they're suicidal or homicidal and the antidepressants put them over the edge. It always happens when they're getting on or off them.

But you're off the mark when you say that people who generally take antidepressants had a bad day. They have serious psychological issues. Not saying that meds are the solution - I'm just saying that implying that people are casual users of antidepressants is misleading (starting to sound like George Carlin).

Everyone's has psychological issues. Everyone that has been abused has serious psychological issues. Some people have worse genetic propensities than others. Two people come from the projects, one ends up a millionaire entrepreneur the other a gang member. Different propensities but the common factor is always abuse of some sort driving these extremes. Klebold and others were abused. I can't proved it but it's common sense really. That doesn't mean that everyone that's abused will do what they did. Take 100 puppies and beat them and only some will become rabid killers attacking everyone that comes near them - it's the same with children.

Do you know how they handled mental illness in the era before psychotropic drugs? They locked people away in insane asylums for life. Oh, and they occasionally electrocuted them.

It is arguable that antidepressants are overprescribed, especially for children, and truly there are doctors who have questionable consulting relationships with the pharmaceutical industry. Also, I *have* heard that the effect of stopping certain antidepressants is comparable to kicking heroin. But that being said, depression is caused by CHEMICAL IMBALANCES IN THE BRAIN, and the majority of the medical world recognizes that the number of people who flip out and kill other people/themselves because of antidepressants is minimal compared with the number who would do so without them.

I have to agree with most of the argument, and would add medications for such things as ADD, ADHD, QWERTY, and any other made up thing to feed the drug industry (the legal one). I would say though, that for some of us, this is a critical part of our lives. I get, from time to time, into a funk. This isn't a failed test, or a break-up, it's me sitting in the same spot doing nothing for months at a time. I don't like taking medication, but a short course of antidepressants works for me in a very remarkable way.
I resist taking them, I ride my highs and lows out, but I can't do it every time. I think the bigger thought here is to differentiate between taking the easy route, baby-sitting your kids with pills instead of people, not taking the lumps that youth brings as you emerge into adulthood; differentiate between that and those of us who's brains sometimes stop working right.

I was offended by the lack of thought and research put into this article. I was just diagnosed with depression and put on antidepressants to help me handle it. I agree that depression shouldn't be diagnosed so easily in such young children, but there are so many people out there handling some for of depression. Sure, I get bummed if I don't do well on a test, but it's not like I can't handle a bad grade. I'm just like everybody else when it comes to bad news. I don't think that I take it any harder than the next person. However, I hit extreme low points when all I want to do is lock myself away and cry and sleep. I'm not suicidal and I have never thought of going on a mass killing spree, but there are times when I feel hopeless and I don't even know where these feelings are coming from. This is something that someone who hasn't been diagnosed with depression can ever fully understand. I have tried explaining to a few close people what it's like and despite the fact that they nod along in agreement I know they don't understand because when I hit rock bottom they all stare at me like I'm from another planet. This isn't something I can control nor is it something that I can help-depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain and antidepressants help balance out those chemicals. It's also genetic-my grandfather has severe depression and my aunts and my mom have all been put on medication for depression. I too, was put on antidepressants after talking to a physiologist and psychiatrist about recurring symptoms.
Depression doesn't drive me to do crazy or dangerous things, especially putting others into danger. Those kids who shot up their schools had a lot more going on than depression and I am deeply offended to be compared to a murder.
Next time, do your research before writing an article like this one. You've offended a lot of people and depression isn't for you to judge. It's out there and more common than you seem to think.

My husband sent me the link to this article today. We are both UW Eau Claire alumni and, just to lend my argument a touch of credence, I went on to earn a master's degree in psychology. I am seriously apalled at the lack of factual evidence or quite frankly, even a basic level of understanding of depression.

Granted, this article was written as an editorial, and I am not disputing the right of the author to voice her opinion. I also happen to agree that anti-depressants should not be quickly prescribed to children; however, I feel that it is completely irresponsible to suggest that medication is unneccessary and has made things worse. Are some doctors too quick to prescribe a pill? Absolutely. But it is insulting to people who need medication due to a chemical, neurological imbalance (that's right, not a "bad day") to suggest that medication has made things worse.

Anti-depressants are not "happy pills". They are medication used to treat a physical problem. That is not an opinion, it is a fact. Taking an anti-depressant is comparable to taking insulin for diabetes. Furthermore, medication does not mask emotions or make everything all better. In many cases it makes it possible for people to function day to day, contrary to the author's suggestion that these pills boost the average American from a 5 to a 7 on some sort of happiness scale.

In order to condemn something, a responsible journalist should have at least a rudimentary understanding of what they are attacking. A little bit of research goes a long way.

"This isn't just about anti-depressants; it's about society's inability to deal with emotions. Being sad isn't normal anymore. It's not normal to have a bad day. If you have a bad day, you must be depressed and you should see a doctor and get on medication."

Are you really comparing clinical depression to having a bad day? I do feel that people in America do tend to over-medicate. We also tend to treat the symptoms and not the problim, buy you know what? SOME PEOPLE DO NEED MEDICATION, SOME PEOPLE NEVER GET ABOVE A 1 OR ON A GOOD DAY A 2!

You know one reason that people do go off medication? IDIOTS LIKE YOU! People who think its all just a bad day and they need to just suck it up. People like you pick on people that really need help and think your just all high and mighty. The fact is if your going to use the paper to attack people who are already having a hard time of it with NO RESEARCH then we would all be better off if you just stopped writing.

What kind of person takes a view that could be argued, over medication in America and uses it to attack the people that do need it. What is wrong with you?

If ignorance is bliss it is no wonder you don't find ant-depressanst to be legit. How about citing as source. It is common knowledge that many prescriptions are given too quickly but you don't go to the doctor because you had a bad test. Anti-depressants are very important to many people and are prescribed when "just sucking it up" is no longer an option. There is a difference between a controversial article and an ignorant rant. Think about who you are talking to and about before you denounce somthing that makes living bearable for a large portion of your peers.

You know, if you're going to get "lippy," you might have wanted to do some research before you wrote your article.

Sharing your opinion? Fantastic. I understand the meaning of "editorial." But good journalists, good editorialists, DO THEIR RESEARCH. I highly suggest that you research your next article if you want to continue in this field of work.

This is one of the worst articles the spectator has ever published.
See all comments above for reasons why.

Not to beat a dead horse, but I think the writer should print an apology to people who are clinically depressed.

I think a lot of people are missing a very serious point here, she never said that depression wasn't a real problem! As a matter of fact, she very clearly states in the closing that it is a real problem for some people! Her point was simply that one needs to be careful when deciding to medicate at a young age for problems that, up until the past few years, have been considered normal for teens and young children!

She has no need to write an apology, and she has every right to voice her opinion about a growing problem in our country!

This is a great article, right on point. All of the school and mall shooters WOULD NOT HAVE killed if they hadn't been put on antidepressants in the first place.

The news media has turned it around. They are asking the question; Why were these people allowed to STOP their medications? The implications are that if they stayed heavily medicated for life, that they would be just fine and would not take others off of their lead-free diets. This is flat out WRONG! Although the shooters were troubled people (many of them were probably torqued out by crap diets), they were not homicidal/suicidal UNTIL they started taking meds.

In this excellent article Abbey says taking antidepressants is not a natural state of affairs. She's right. They are synthetic chemicals which trap serotonin in the brain by blocking its re-uptake (reabsorption). The result is fried receptors, the equivlaent of a chemical lobotomy. This is why these people are reported as being "zombie like" devoid of emotion as they calmly and methodically carry out their murderous tasks. The antidepressant frontal lobotomy takes out the area of the brain that makes us human, the part that houses love, caring for others, self-regard, connecting consequences with actions.

In time, the whole perspective on the world becomes distorted. Response to perceived injustices such as bullying, being jilted by girlfriend, becomes disproportionate (to put it mildly).

To Erica: Consider running like hell from antidepressants if you value your sanity and well being. Whatever your problem, you will be better off tackling it without drugs in the long run. I can say this with some confidence as my son died from a toxic combo of prescription drugs after he tried for years to pry the chemical monkey off his back.

Good work Abby.

Chuck

You are an ignorant idiot. A lot of people suffered their entire lives back in the day when everyone was as bullheaded as yourself. Now kids and adults who have been treated are living normal lives and functioning better in society and we should be happy about that.

Your views and opinions are nothing new! A lot of hardheaded idiots have expressed them in the past. Its not like you have backed up your findings with any data.

All you did with this opinion piece is embarrass yourself and show how ignorant (and stupid) you are. Maybe you dont need medication to help you with a mental problem.

Next time you decide to write an article, take some time to validate your points with documentation and data. Otherwise youll come off like a fool again!

I came across this as a desperate mother trying to search for info to help my daughter. My Daughter who is eight has been a difficult child since birth, she was diagnosed with GAD Generalised Anxiety Disorder when she was 3, we have just been through a really hard couple of months and have watch our daughter plumit, she now has depression. I have three other children who are fine, mental illness is not something that has been created to avoid parenting, who are you to judge people like that, do you have kids, are you living with your niece 24/7. Stand up a be supportive to your family you have no idea how these children suffer and how it affects the whole family. Also FYI alot of these children have a predisposition and its not the enviroment that has caused the illness. Very dissapointed at your lack of empathy

Just over a year ago I was in the hospital with a very serious matter concerning my Grandmother. This episode was overlooked with disgust by myself when five women, one being my mother, were trading antidepressants to deal with the unfortunate circumstances. Knowing all five of these women, happy-go-lucky, it really bothered me that they did not deal with life. Granted, life can be great, but it can suck. You take the good with the bad. I am not a parent, grandparent, or anything else, I'm an average Joe. I do believe masking lives dilemas will only hurt you in the long run. Grievance and hardships are temperary issues that make you apreciate life so much more. Nasty-grams and illwills only contribute that much more to a BS subject which is WAY overmedicated. If everybody would just be nice instead of calling people idiots and showing a little bit of sensitivity to what somebody is writing in an EDITORIAL show a little of understanding, it would probably end. There would be a whole lot less depressed people if you egotistical douchbags would shut the hell up and realize plenty of statistics were included that don't mean shit. I could make one up and as long as you can't disprove it I win. You can get a doctorate on Bull Shit. Books can't teach you, life smarts, Learn it, Live it, and wake up people. That's life.

There is no scientific proof of what causes depression, how psychotropic medications actually work, or of the term bantered about as fact "Chemical imbalance". Pharmaceutical companies are making enormous amounts of money using children and adults as guinea pigs for their profit, in the meantime actually causing brain damage to our children.

This is a gutsy article, and therefore I like it. Not that I agree with everything here, though. Clinical depression is a serious problem in our culture, and anti-depressants help many people. However, Ms. Harvey is right to question the extensive use of psychotropic medication in the U.S. Physicians are sometimes too quick to prescribe psychotropic medication, but I don't necessarily blame physicians. They have little time to actually discuss mental and emotional problems with their patients, so as to get at the root problem. And patients may demand that they or their children be placed on medication. We need to have an intelligent discussion about these issues, and perhaps Ms. Harvey's article can help to trigger the discussion.

Antidepressant are both good and bad. Some hopelessly depressed people have found help through them, other people with only mild symptoms have gotten their whole chemical balance, as well as their lives, screwed up by them

i completely agree. people just dont deal anymore. there is a pill for everything. i recently met this crazy ass chick that just pops happy pills likes it her business. even if her reality isnt all that bad. everything is about being depressed or being happy. maybe if people took a trip to some 3rd world country and saw what it meant to strive for anything they would quit their bitching and do something with their god giving gift of life. all i know is that if she isnt bouncing off the walls from some happy pill than its the end of the world. and she wasnt like that before the pills. she was stable. they were prescribed when she decided to be an alcoholic cuz she likes getting f'ed up every now and then. she learned it from her parents. oh and by the way her therapist at the time calls a alcoholism a disease. im sorry but thats bull. people choose to drink. it doesnt choose them like the plague or hiv or any other "disease". now she will prob never get off these pills cuz her brain chemistry is completely fucked and addicted. and these doctors have her convinced she needs them to survive. she traded one drug for another. oh and since the pills she smokes like a chimney. uncontrollably. its gross.

There are conflicting arguments as to the reason for depression particularly in the area of chemical imballance. The fact is , the chemical imballance theory is an educated guess and has never been proven. I agree with the author that the prescribing of drugs by doctors for such things as depression is excessive, and in my opinion, an "easy fix". I myself was diognosed with depression and put on Paxil. I recently came off them and went through (and still going through though less severe as I progress)an awfull withdrawal.I am seeking professional help for the remainder of my pain. I will say this, I have never felt this way in my life before, never! I beleive the Paxil masked many of my emotions and since the withdrawal they are coming to light. I plan to fight this with every fiber of my being, but I can tell you my dark days are tough. I don't want to give up and return to antidepressants. I hope and pray every day for the day I can just feel happy again.