American Antidepressant Consumption Triples

The United States of America is the only country in the world founded on the belief that mankind has inalienable rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Other nations may gladly sign up for the first two, but some would doubt whether pursuing happiness is the basis for a system of government. Judging from recent reports, Americans’ pursuit is not terribly successful. Adult use of antidepressants almost tripled between the periods 1988-1994 and 1999-2000. Maybe happiness isn’t everything.

Dr. Ronald Dworkin, a Maryland anesthesiologist and senior fellow at Washington's Hudson Institute, who told the story in his book Artificial Unhappiness: The Dark Side of the New Happy Class, explained “Doctors are now medicating unhappiness. Too many people take drugs when they really need to be making changes in their lives.”

Dr. Kelly Posner, an assistant professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City takes the view “The fact that people are getting the treatments they need is encouraging.” She points out that 25% of adults and 8% of adolescents have a “major depressive episode” at some stage of their lives. She suggests that that accounts for the prescriptions. However, she makes the logical jump that medication is the proper response to the illness. That doesn’t seem to be proved as yet.

That is not to say that people with genuine clinical depression should avoid treatment, quite the contrary. Mental illness still carries a stigma that is not far removed from the Dark Ages. Medicine has done great things in finding ways to repair the body, but the mind is proving far more complicated and difficult. Nevertheless, there is a big difference between being in a state of depression and feeling a little off. There is no reason why antidepressants should be the most prescribed drugs in the nation surpassing those that treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma or even headaches.

The question is really at what point does being unhappy affect one’s ability to live life. Life, after all, is not entirely about being happy. A great many of life’s lessons are learned through pain and disappointment, both of which usually result in something other than happiness. When properly assessed, the result of the unhappiness can be spiritual growth or, if one prefers the ancient Greek term, wisdom. In fact, it’s rather ironic that men like Jefferson, Adams, Franklin and the rest didn’t say “life, liberty and the pursuit of wisdom.” It would make the Republic sound far less frivolous. Instead, their descendants seem taken with the idea that happiness is a matter of chemistry and pharmacology. That’s a depressing thought.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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