Consumption of prescription drugs is at an all-time high, many of them being psychiatric medications. One in six American adults reported taking at least one psychiatric drug during 2013, according to a report published by Thomas J. Moore and Donald R. Mattisom in the Journal of American Medical Association’s Internal Medicine in December 2016.
Americans are frequently consuming medications that may be inappropriate or unnecessary for their mental health problems. Nowadays, some doctors, such as physicians and psychiatrists, are prescribing medication as the primary solution to individuals’ mental health issues instead of providing other alternatives such as therapy or advising the person to make changes in their life.
According to a government study conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, antidepressants have become the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States. The same study found that antidepressants are prescribed more than drugs to treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma or headaches.
Psychiatric drug rates are also rising rapidly due to pharmaceutical marketing to doctors and consumers. According to Nathan Greenslit and Ted Katchuk in a journal article published in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine (YJBM) in March 2012, over the last 10 years, drug companies have created physician-directed and direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns to inform people about neuroscientific theories about mental illness. These ads are specifically designed to convince doctors and patients that psychopharmaceuticals have a strong and direct relationship to the symptoms they are supposed to treat.
As reported by Kravits et al. in an article published in JAMA Network on April 2005, patients’ requests have a strong effect on physicians prescribing in major depression and adjustment disorder.
Drugs like antidepressants and antipsychotics are being prescribed for longer periods, suggesting that some people may find it difficult, either for physical or psychological reasons, to stop medication once it is started, as reported by Moore et al. in an article published in The BMJ on October 2009.
As an aspiring mental health practitioner, it is difficult to take in that the mental health field is derailing from its main purpose: to help and guide those struggling with a mental health issue or are going through a difficult time in their life.
Sometimes we want fast results, but it’s not worth someone’s well-being.
Psychiatric drugs are necessary in certain cases, but if we can make changes in our lives or get therapy, then we should resort to that first before we take a pill.
