It’s no secret that America is prescription happy.  There is a pill or procedure for everything under the sun, and if we weren’t so inclined to fill the prescriptions handed over to us,  our healthcare would take on an entirely different look.

Our need to be “pain-free” has ignited an addiction wildfire that we may never be able to contain.  But having some pain is a normal thing, and having some pain doesn’t necessarily warrant a narcotic to cope.

One reason contributing to the popularity of antidepressants is the expansion of their indications. “Many patients are given antidepressants for non-depression diagnoses, such as anxiety, sleep, and neuropathic pain,” Donovan Maust, M.D., M.S., a geriatric psychiatrist and assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan, told Psychiatric News.

Since older adults tend to have more contact with the health care system than younger adults, they may be more likely to be given an antidepressant prescription by their family physician, internist, or other specialist.

Our need to put a label on our moods and our inability to cope has ignited an antidepressant nightmare and today, 13% of Americans are being prescribed antidepressants that MOST will never be able to live without because of the consequences related to withdrawal.  Included in this staggering antidepressant statistic are children from 0-5 years old.   I’m not sure how it’s possible to “diagnose” moods, anxiety or the inability to cope in an infant, but apparently somebody sees something they consider to be “abnormal” and before you know it, there’s a happy pill to make it better.

 As antidepressant prescriptions increased 270% over 15 years, suicide rates also increased

No doubt, there is a time and a place for antidepressants and without them some people would suffer needlessly.  But just as surely as we abuse every other pharmaceutical antidepressants are abused too.  Although I don’t pass judgment on the use of antidepressants, I DO know that antidepressants are just like any other medication prescribed…they mask the symptoms without addressing the root problem and they ALWAYS come with side-effects.  THERE IS NO CURE FOR ANY DISEASE OR CONDITION WHATSOEVER despite the pills we take.

Sadly, convenience is the #1 seller in America today, and if it’s possible to take a pill without putting in the work for a healthier body or a sound mind- we’ll opt for the quick-fix almost every time.  Couple that with our fixation on doctors and the fact that most Americans do whatever, or take whatever is recommend to them without question makes the use of antidepressants a vicious and costly cycle.

“Women over the age of 50 who have taken Prozac for prolonged periods of time are 80% more likely to have hip and other bone fractures“

Many of the people taking antidepressants use them long-term…68% of people ages 12 and up said they had been taking their antidepressant for two years or more. A quarter of people who took antidepressants reported taking them for 10 years or more.

Women are prescribed antidepressants 2 times more often than men.  It’s interesting to note that (according to the Mayo Clinic) most people taking antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications claim to only have dimmed their symptoms and they continue to struggle with depression and anxiety.  Not only that, but more and more studies are being introduced that claim that antidepressants are not effective in children at all!  In fact, some claim that the child is much worse off from having taken them than they were before they began the vicious cycle.

Where Does Depression Come From?

The answer to this question would solve one of life’s biggest mysteries, and it could help avoid a tremendous amount of pain.  Sometimes depression is brought on by real life circumstances and no amount of medication can alter a painful reality.

Sometimes depression is brought on by a chemical imbalance that no amount of antidepressants on their own can overcome.

Sometimes depression is brought on by our environment and our world doesn’t accept our reaction to it as “normal”.

And sometimes depression is brought on by toxicity – since toxicity is not an easy pill to swallow,  most people won’t bother to change their lifestyle, their diet or their water because of it.  Toxicity is nothing to play around with it can lead to disease, depression and death.

The National Institute of Health (N.I.H.) has officially labeled our children as being “pre-polluted”; a clear sign that they know a lot more than they share with us about the dangers of toxicity…from cancer…to depression…to autism…to death.

DEPRESSION IS REAL.  DEPRESSION HAS REAL CONSEQUENCES…and it’s a REAL sign of something bigger going on.  Masking the symptoms with long-term antidepressants leaves no room to get to the root of the problem and it leaves the door wide open for some serious  long-term consequences….from deeper and darker depression, to bone fractures, to death.

If you, or someone you know, suffers from depression get help NOW.  The solution isn’t always as easy as taking a pill, and it might require a lot of work to work through, but there IS HOPE and there is HELP on either side of a prescription bottle.

ADVOCATING FOR BETTER HEALTH

ALL ACROSS THE GLOBE…

If you’d like to learn more about how toxicity CAN negatively impact your body and your mind, reach out to me!  Nobody ever won a battle by doing nothing.

Do you or someone you love suffer from depression?

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