Are Antidepressants Being Misused?

Are Antidepressants Being Misused?

Depression is a serious problem that is affecting lots of people all over the world. From the treatments available, antidepressants first became a common solution after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved fluoxetine in 1987. Since then, antidepressants are amongst the most prescribed medications in the world (Johnson & Kirsch, 2008, p. 54). This may be strictly related to the increase in depression and other related illnesses in people in the past decades, but it can also be influenced by the insurance and medical companies which are generally more leaned to opt for a relatively inexpensive pharmacotherapy, rather than more expensive and time consuming psychotherapies (Casey, 2013). Antidepressants are being misused, even when their actual benefits are doubtful compared to all the side effects they seem to have.

Depression is the response to a bad event or a series of bad events that produce a long-term more profound burden. There are several ways to treat depression that do not have to be taking pills; ranging from just exercising, to omega-3 fatty acids supplements, to psychotherapy. Antidepressants have quick and short term benefits for those who use them right, but they seem to have major benefits in people with more severe cases of depression. As Thomas Insel explains on his article in the NIH that, “In some patients, perhaps those with more severe clinical conditions, they appear to be essential for remission.” Dr. Casey also explains in his article that, “A much discussed meta-analysis performed by Kirsch et al. (…) showed limited efficacy for antidepressants, especially in milder cases of depression” (2013, p. 162). Thereby, these would be misused when prescribed to people with light symptoms of depression, specially when they can also cause a series of unwanted side effects. These ranging amongst nausea, weight gain, loss of libido, loss of effectiveness, increased suicidal thoughts, and several others.

Most of the studies conducted on antidepressants were made on short term benefits; as Dr. Casey explains in his article, “A large number of placebo-controlled trials of various antidepressants have been published, most showing efficacy compared with placebo. Many of these studies are relatively small and short-term in nature” (2013, p. 162). Considering the large list of side effects of antidepressants and the lack of research on long-term effects, it would seem logical for people with milder cases of depression to pursue one of the other treatments mentioned above. Nevertheless, their quick efficacy and large recommendation from most physicians makes them the fastest and most appealing option in the market. They are being largely used by people in the US, not minding if they have or not severe symptoms of depression. Insel explains that, “Although depression and anxiety disorders are the primary indications for prescribing antidepressants, doctors have prescribed these medications, generally “off-label,” to treat chronic pain, menstrual symptoms, low energy, and other maladies, with or without accompanying depressive or anxiety symptoms.” This should be a wake up call for people to not let themselves be fooled by the marketing system.

References

Casey, D. A. (2013). Do Antidepressant Medications Work? P&T , 38 (3).

Insel, T. (2011, December 6). National Institute of Mental Health. Retrieved from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/2011/antidepressants-a-complicated-picture.shtml

Johnson, B., & Kirsch, I. (2008, June). Do antidepressants work? statistical significance versus clinical benefits. Significance , 54-58.

What are the real risks of antidepressants? (2005). Retrieved from Harvard Health Publications: http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/what_are_the_real_risks_of_antidepressants

Benefits of an Active Life

Benefits of an Active Life

More and more people are living sedentary lifestyles, either because of their jobs, or because of the latest technologies that are keeping us glued to our seats. An article in LifeSpan magazine states that a sedentary lifestyle can be defined as a disease, “Sitting disease, or a sedentary lifestyle, is a term used to describe individuals whom engage in prolonged periods of sitting or overall inactivity. While sitting down all day may seem harmless, you may be surprised by the negative impact it has on your health.” After long years of inactivity, it is likely that a person can develop serious illnesses like diabetes, cancer and heart disease amongst others.

Taken from http://www.medicaldaily.com/more-americans-lived-sedentary-lifestyle-2014-number-physically-active-hits-lowest-6-330788

It is not something that we can afford to take lightly. The number of people who are living sedentary lifestyles has increased outrageously in the last few years. Medical Daily exposes a research where they found that, “Out of the 292 million Americans aged 6 years and older, 83 million are living a sedentary lifestyle. Since 2009, an additional 7.9 million Americans have climbed onto the couch and left their sneakers by the wayside.” It is alarming how even kids are continuously preferring screens than to go outside to play. For adults it is worse, specially with all the different types of jobs there are currently, that require us to work eight hours straight sitting on a chair. Here is an infographic of the sitting disease:

  

Taken from http://www.lifespanfitness.com/workplace/resources/articles/sitting-all-day-is-taking-a-toll-on-your-body

We really need to do something, and we can start with ourselves. We do not have to go for a 10 miles run everyday in order to be able to step out of the sedentary lifestyle, we only have to try to increase our active life by at least going for a short walk three times a week. A more active life does not specify what type of activity we realize, it can go from walking to swimming, dancing, running, etc. It is better to be active for 20 minutes every day, than to not be active at all.  The benefits of an active kind of life are demonstrated to be tangible for everyone.

Even the Mayo Clinic staff has come up with a list of benefits for an active lifestyle. They encourage their patients saying that, “Want to feel better, have more energy and perhaps even live longer? Look no further than exercise. The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore.” They expose that exercise is beneficial for weight control, and health conditions and diseases. Many people think that after exercising, they will feel tired and won’t have energy for the rest of their day. Nevertheless, that is just a myth, since exercise actually boosts mood as well as energy by delivering oxygen and nutrients to your tissues and helping your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. It also serves as a sleep promoter, and overall as a help to live a longer life.

taken from lifestylefitnessludiki.blogspot.com

In general, living an active life has benefits for every part of our lives, so we really need to start thinking ahead and help ourselves feel better. We have our near and distant future in our hands.

Eating Healthy Does Not Have to Be So Hard

Eating Healthy Does Not Have to Be So Hard

Taken from www.dianadonoslovic.com

Most of us rely on our habits for eating, sleeping and exercising or no exercising, and those are difficult to change. We buy on the same grocery store every time, we cook the same meals over and over again, we are stuck on our own vicious cycle that is our routine. Now, there is nothing wrong about that, the problem starts when our habits include eating unhealthy or having strange food preferences at strange hours. If we really want to lose weight, or have simply realized that what we eat is terribly wrong for us and is making us feel less energetic, we need to start making up a new eating plan.

Sometimes, people think that eating healthy means becoming a vegan or a vegetarian, or start buying everything organic, which would mean changing totally their shopping lists and would definitely mean increasing the price as well. An article in the NY Times by Trish Hall explains that, “Since good eating is increasingly associated with good health, many are angry because they feel powerless to take advantage of nutrition information.” While it is also an option, it does not have to be the only one. In this society where we have so many manufactured foods that are supposed to be food but it is mainly just chemicals, we need to find a way in which eating healthy can be accessible for everyone in their own preferable ways.

In fact, it is easier than most people think. Changing bad eating habits does not consist in buying the most expensive organic products, it does not consist in stressing yourself about what you are going to eat everyday that is both healthy and inexpensive. Building up a healthy diet starts by arranging what we eat in different moments of the day and how we eat it. Even though important to keep in mind if possible, it does not have so much to do with the quality of the food. Here’s a guide taken out of the WebMD that includes some helpful points:

• Start by taking baby steps towards changing your diet.

• The most important part of the day is the breakfast, do not skip it.

Taken from www.mirror.co.uk

• Be mindful and present whenever you eat.

• Try to eat meals seated at a table without distractions, it is a time to eat and nothing more.

• Eat a nutritious snack like nuts and raisins every few hours.

• Drink more water and less sugary drinks.

Taken from www.bakingdietitian.com

• Try reducing your serving portions, remember that the eyes are bigger than the stomach.

• Eat good fats like avocado or olive oil.

•  Eat more fruits and veggies.

It just takes a little bit of compromise with ourselves and we can start changing everyone’s diet. Specially because, it seems like eating poorly is not only bad for ourselves, but also for the economy. As an article in Dr. Mark Hyman’s blog explains, “We all know that bad foods are bad for your health. It turns out they are also bad for the national pocketbook. For example, one expert has estimated that healthcare costs related to obesity are $118 billion per year.” Therefore, supporting unhealthy cheap food is going to end up costing us more by the time we want to have health care. What’s cheaper then?