[Old Teufel Hunden]

Just taking the other side. If all of these people were on anti depressants, they would have to have gone to a doctor to get them prescribed, correct? That being the case, is it fairer to say that all of these people were diagnosed clinically depressed and that is the main link? Of course (in this country at least) everyone clinically diagnosed with depression from a shrink would be on anti depressants. Not sure if the cause/effect relationship is good here...

[Stoat]

A substantial percentage (most?) of the medical cases involving depression are based largely upon a patient's self-diagnosis....a patient complains of 'feeling sad all the time', reports sleep or eating difficulties, reports difficulties concentrating at work, etc.  The doctor is being asked to provide a pharmacological solution to a problem in the patient's life that may possibly be better-addressed through other avenues such as more exercise, a different diet or changing some other aspect of his or her life.  In some cases the problem is indeed a chemical imbalance in the patient that is able to be corrected quite successfully with drugs, in others cases it's not.  On top of that, getting the correct drug and the correct dosage to the correct patient is a huge challenge, oftentimes a matter of trial and error.  Although the drugs will have 'recommended dosages', this is not an exact science, and any healthcare pro will readily admit that fact.

To make matters worse, most antidepressants have significant side effects such as causing a disruption of sleep patterns, sexual side effects, eating and digestive troubles, nausea, lethargy, etc.  These side effects can cause as much or in some cases more troubles for the patient than the original condition, so many patients stop taking their meds after awhile or take them intermittently, longing as they do for the feeling of 'normalcy' away from the side effects. 

All of these factors and more combine to make this entire issue a very complex one, and some of these meds have been directly linked to suicides in some patients, and profound personality changes.  

From what I've seen, I believe that the wrong combination of drugs in the wrong person could indeed send them 'over the edge' but I've also seen many patients who have been able to live much happier lives as a result of a chemical imbalance being corrected through drugs.  Getting it right for every patient is something that everyone involved with healthcare want so see, but it's not always  possible.