Posted on 11/04/2017 6:13:32 PM PDT by Mr. Mojo
Antidepressants were most common, followed by anxiety relievers and antipsychotics
One in six U.S. adults reported taking a psychiatric drug, such as an antidepressant or a sedative, in 2013, a new study found.
The new data comes from an analysis of the 2013 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), which gathered information on the cost and use of health care in the United States.
An earlier government report, from 2011, found that just over one in 10 adults reported taking prescription drugs for "problems with emotions, nerves or mental health," the authors wrote in a research letter published today (Dec. 12) in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.
But that report, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, didn't "provide information on which specific medications were more commonly used " or on how long they were used, said authors of the new study, Thomas Moore, a senior scientist at the Pennsylvania-based nonprofit organization the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, and Dr. Donald Mattison, the chief medical officer at the Canadian consulting company Risk Sciences International.
Moore and Mattison found that nearly 17 percent of adults in the U.S. reported filling at least one prescription for a psychiatric drug in 2013.
Antidepressants were the most common type of psychiatric drug in the survey, with 12 percent of adults reporting that they filled prescriptions for these drugs, the study said. In addition, 8.3 percent of adults were prescribed drugs from a group that included sedatives, hypnotics and anti-anxiety drugs, and 1.6 percent of adults were given antipsychotics, the researchers found.
Psychiatric drug use differed among adults of different ages, sex and race, the researchers found. For example, nearly 21 percent of white adults reported taking a psychiatric drug, compared with less than 9 percent of Hispanic adults, according to the report.
Older adults also reported a higher rate of psychiatric drug use. One-quarter of adults ages 60 to 85 reported taking at least one of these drugs, compared with less than 10 percent of adults ages 18 to 39, the researchers found. In addition, nearly twice as many women as men reported taking psychiatric drugs: 21 percent compared with 12 percent, according to the report.
Two antidepressants topped the list for the most commonly used psychiatric drugs: sertraline hydrochloride, which goes by the brand name Zoloft, and citalopram hydrobromide, or Celexa.
Alprazolam, or Xanax, was the most common drug from the sedative, hypnotic and anti-anxiety category, the study said. This medication was the third most common psychiatric drug overall, following Zoloft and Celexa, according to the report.
Other leading drugs included Ambien, which is a hypnotic sleeping pill, and the antidepressants Prozac and Desyrel, the report said.
The researchers noted that because the survey data included information on only a single year, it was difficult to determine how long people had been prescribed different psychiatric drugs. However, more than eight in 10 adults who were taking psychiatric drugs reported long-term use, the researchers wrote.
For antidepressants, there is limited information available about how long an individual should stay on the drug, Moore and Mattison wrote. For certain drugs in the sedative, hypnotic and anxiolytic category, however, people can become dependent, the researchers noted.
To improve the safety of psychiatric drugs, Moore and Mattison suggested increasing the emphasis on prescribing these medications at the lowest effective dose and continually re-assessing the need to keep individuals on the drugs.
Up to 1 in 100 people will become aggressive on an antidepressant. This may lead to violent behavior.
https://rxisk.org/side-effects-of-antidepressants/
This study shows 1.0% violent rate:
“overall association between SSRIs and violent crime convictions (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.19, 95% CI 1.08–1.32, p < 0.001, absolute risk = 1.0%)”
http://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001875
I’ve taken Zanax..
I’ve got access to guns....
I’ve never shot any human being nor intend to do so in the near future(though there’s alot of varmits that fear my shadow)
Am I a danger to society? Inquiring liberals want to know....
I have a friend that was on that. He hunted. He was on that, but he committed suicide.
“Psych meds linked to 90% of school shootings”
http://www.wnd.com/2012/12/psych-meds-linked-to-90-of-school-shootings/
Don’t forget tobacco.
That would explain so many Hillary and Bernie votes in the last election campaigns.
Don’t get in the way of the alt-nanny-staters. The same people who bitch about the lefts self righteous liberal ideology will be the first in line to push theirs.
Tax reform isn’t tax reform if it hurts them.
Personal liberty isn’t liberty if it fails their moral code
Freedom isn’t freedom if it violates their personal opinion.
The “conservative” movement is made up of many people who want to control you. That part of the liberals bitch is real. Probably the only part.
Personally I am against marijuana but does that give me the right to control states, local law, my neighbor? However I am absolutely against abortion and do think it should be rare, illegal and murder. So I am my own example of a alt-right control freak. What’s the answer?
Anyway - this particular subject is better life through modern chemistry or crutch for mental midgets?
If they are all dems I’m good with that
“To improve the safety of psychiatric drugs, Moore and Mattison suggested increasing the emphasis on prescribing these medications at the lowest effective dose and continually re-assessing the need to keep individuals on the drugs.
“
the real “safety” problem is that most of those drugs (in fact many other types of drugs as well) are habituating in the sense that the body always tries to reach homeostasis when subjected to chemical influences that alter its natural balance.
The result is that the body alters itself to minimize the impact of many drugs, and therefore should the drug be abruptly withdrawn, an unpleasant withdrawal effect occurs because the drug was a necessary part of the body’s drug-balanced state.
Xanax is a perfect example. If one ceases consumption of Xanax, the anxiety that it was supposed to “treat” returns much worse than before using the drug. Thus the condition the drug is supposed to treat is in effect CAUSED by the drug, which is why people who take Xanax must continue to take it or suffer severe anxiety every time they stop.
Other benzodiazepine are even worse than Xanax; in particular, Ativan (loreazepam) is highly addictive because it has such a short half-life and has to be taken several times a day to stave off the horrific rebound anxiety that occurs without the drug.
Another trap is to take a second drug to counter the side-effects of the first drug. This trap can lead to a nearly endless set of drugs.
Bottom line: stay away from as many drugs as possible unless they stave off a life-threatening condition such as hypertension, chronic asthma, pernicious anemia, hypothyroidism, bacterial infection, etc.
One in six works for the federal government. Coincidence?
Unmedicated liberals are also of concern.
I’m a psychotherapist, so my professional inclination is to help clients with “skills not pills.” That being said, I sometimes refer a client to a psychiatrist for meds. Sometimes someone needs the short-term boost that meds can provide while they continue to work with me on building skills to manage their depression/anxiety/anger. In my opinion meds become a problem when they are relied upon as a primary and long-term intervention.
Bigger concern all things considered
Part of the snowflake syndrome - nobody is expected to learn any coping skills these days - emotionally crippled social misfits need “something to tide them over” the anthills that sane people see as a part of life....
Evident every time I go out in the world. I actually believe 3 out 5 five are on a mind altering drug of some kind.
I was surprised when that shrink said that 1 out of 4 women are taking these mood changing drugs. Could this be the chickens coming home to roost from the self-esteem movement?
Rand Paul: ‘I think my neighbor takes Prozac or something like it...”
Not so fake news, just because they don’t see a shrink doesn’t mean they aren’t on them. Oncologist regularly prescribe Xanax, Cymbalta. They are 1 of the most over prescribed ADDICTIVE drugs the FDA approved.
Are Some Psychiatric Drugs Killing More People Than Heroin?
https://www.northpointrecovery.com/blog/psychiatric-drugs-now-killing-people-heroin/
Estranged DIL got hooked from supposed stress of Breast Cancer on Xanax which she kicks with MMJ, leaves her a zombie incapable of taking care of herself or my now 16 yr old grandson, who now lives with his dad. BTW her ditzy sister who has no health issues is the same way.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.