With the high portion of depressed Americans (around 10 % of the population to be exact), it should come as no surprise that some variety of depression medicine is being administered to depression patients on an almost everyday basis.
Yet, what should be more of a concern are the side-effects common to these kinds of depression medication. Take the popular anti-depressant, Prozac. Many people take it for depression as well as premenstrual syndrome and panic attacks. In some instances has even been experimented with in helping tobacco users to stop. For quite a while, the drug has been thought to have few side effects and many benefits. However, new studies are beginning to show that this isn't true.
In as much as this depression, medication may correct the degrees of serotonin in the brain (the chemical linked to happiness), this drug as unpleasant mental and physical side effects. Moreover, any betterment in a depressed condition remains only as long as the drug is applied.
The other popular depression drug commonly prescribed for depression symptoms is the controversial Zoloft. The most common side effects of this depression medication, according to the Zoloft web site are dry mouth, upset stomach, decreased appetite, tiredness, difficulty sleeping, sexual dysfunction, diarrhea, tremor, feelings of agitation, stomach upset, and increased sweating.
These side effects are yet more pronounced in children who are prescribed this drug for childhood depression. Other, less noted, yet equally frightening symptoms of this so-called depression-help drug or liver problems, delusions, psychosis... You get the gist of it, right?!
Now, when depression patients finally get informed of the dangers of these forms of depression medication, automatically, they take the steps to try to cease its use. Can it be this easy? No. Take Zoloft for example; withdrawal symptoms have included dizziness, extreme nausea and high fever. Some other side-effects have been labeled as so painful that patients seeking to end the use of this depression medication have actually committed suicide to end their misery.
From all the factors above, it will be safe to say no depression medication drug can truly help mental disorders. Brain chemicals can be temporarily adjusted, but not permanently fixed. It will be best to seek natural treatment methods such as getting counseling, Yoga and a modification in diet habits, incorporating short fasts as the latter has been taken for a panacea for almost all ailments known to mankind, including depression. Sometimes drugs are not what's best. Today, they are being prescribed very often when sometimes they can cause worse problems.
These days, drugs can be approved by the FDA with only a few clinical trials done. If a company creates a few surveys that demonstrate that a drug works even at a marginal point, a form of medication can be sanctioned. This leads to occasional drugs that don't have substantial results or in-depth trial (long term side effects are almost never examined; this gets too long) on the market for the general public to get at them. Bringing this into consideration, it is suggested that any sort of depression medications may be best unused, and discarded.
Many circles recommend Yoga, changes in dietetic habits and even prayer and a deeper connectedness with the Omnipotent as safer and possibly most effective drug-free alternatives to using depression medication as a road to treating emotional disorders.
So consider your options carefully next time depression sends you seeking treatment. In this article, my hope is your intuition will guide you to safer, non-drug methods of depression treatment.
