I've been saying this for awhile. Almost every malady today is met by a doctor suggesting an SSRI like Paxil or Effexor. Even Cymbalta is recommended for pain now. Anyone taking these meds will be looked at differently in the future. Almost every cop I know, (my daughter is a Deputy Sheriff) is on something after a few years on the job. I complained about insomnia and the doc says I need Cymbalta for my back pain keeping me awake. My mom died, another attempt to prescribe SSRI. Almost every time I walk in with a cold, he tries to get me on an SSRI. 25 million people are taking SSRI's now. Are we a nation of "Stepford Wives" now?
My neighbor was on 5mg a day and wanted to quit. He slumped into a weeping pile of gooo and wanted to kill himself. The doc said "Why are you trying to stop?"
I know 3 friends personally enough to know they cannot stop once they start. It's like watching someone withdraw from Heroin.
I'm absolutely sure you won't keep your guns if you take these meds. They will make it seem you are on the edge of mass murder if you just feel a little weepy after your divorce.
I guess drug companies did not see this one coming. Expect to see heavy lobbying.
Some years ago, I was having trouble with insomnia. Doc prescribed Xanax, which was exactly the wrong thing to do. The stuff scared me so much that I only took it for a couple days before disposing of it.
Dunno if you've ever had anything like that, but you just don't.....care. Your pants are on fire? Meh. Whatever. I'm really not sure how to describe it, let alone function on it.
So....I self-prescibed Tylenol PM before bed. Problem resolved itself in short order. Suppose that I should have done that to begin with.
Is there a need for heavy duty meds like what we're talking about? Sure. But the demand, and the realistic need, are two completely different things.