Antidepressant use doubles in U.S., study finds

Antidepressant use doubles in U.S., study finds

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Use of antidepressant drugs in the United States doubled between 1996 and 2005, probably because of a mix of factors, researchers reported on Monday.

About 6 percent of people were prescribed an antidepressant in 1996 -- 13 million people. This rose to more than 10 percent or 27 million people by 2005, the researchers found.

"Significant increases in antidepressant use were evident across all sociodemographic groups examined, except African Americans," Dr. Mark Olfson of Columbia University in New York and Steven Marcus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia wrote in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

"Not only are more U.S. residents being treated with antidepressants, but also those who are being treated are receiving more antidepressant prescriptions," they added.

More than 164 million prescriptions were written in 2008 for antidepressants, totaling $9.6 billion in U.S. sales, according to IMS Health.

Drugs that affect the brain chemical serotonin like GlaxoSmithKline's Paxil, known generically as paroxetine, and Eli Lilly and Co's Prozac, known generically as fluoxetine, are the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressant. But the study found the effect in all classes of the drugs.

Olfson and Marcus looked at the Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys done by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, involving more than 50,000 people in 1996 and 2005.

"During this period, individuals treated with antidepressants became more likely to also receive treatment with antipsychotic medications and less likely to undergo psychotherapy," they wrote.

SOCIAL ACCEPTANCE

The survey did not look at why, but the researchers made some educated guesses. It may be more socially acceptable to be diagnosed with and treated for depression, they said. The availability of new drugs may also have been a factor.

"Although there was little change in total promotional spending for antidepressants between 1999 ($0.98 billion) and 2005 ($1.02 billion), there was a marked increase in the percentage of this spending that was devoted to direct-to consumer advertising, from 3.3 percent ($32 million) to 12 percent ($122.00 million)," they added.

Dr. Eric Caine of the University of Rochester in New York said he was concerned by the findings. "Antidepressants are only moderately effective on population level," he said in a telephone interview.

Caine, who was not involved in the research, noted that several studies show therapy is as effective as, if not more effective than, drug use alone.

"There are no data to say that the population is healthier. Indeed, the suicide rate in the middle years of life has been climbing," he said.

Olfson and Marcus said out-of-pocket costs for psychotherapy and lower insurance coverage for such visits may have driven patients away from seeing therapists in favor of an easy-to-prescribe pill.

The rise in antidepressant prescriptions also is seen despite a series of public health warnings on use of antidepressant drugs beginning in 2003 after clinical trials showed they increased the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children and teens.

In February 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration added its strongest warning, a so-called black box, on the use of all antidepressants in children and teens.

A family begins to heal

Please accept this as testimonial for the Staff of Intervention 911. After ten years of desperation, and anguish over our son and his addiction to drugs…we finally figured it out ! We could not fix him, love him, scare him, push him, reward him, cajole him, counsel him, threaten him, shove him or any other verb you can think of him into getting better. The addiction won..every single time.

As we watched our family suffer more and more, and watched Mitch suffer more and more, with increasingly dangerous consequences (including a motorcycle accident and a subsequent fourteen month, five surgery hospitalization) our desperation reached a point of hopelessness. What could we do? What in God’s name could we do? Would he die, become homeless, get worse, break the law, go to jail, hurt someone…what else could possibly happen to make him see he needed help?

But where to start? Who could we trust to bring our only son to treatment? We chose Intervention 911.

I made the call, which was the scariest call of my life. A million questions swirled in my mind. My heart broke to think this is what we had come to. Would it work? Would he go? What would happen? How would it happen? Where would he go? Where should he go? And for how long? In less than 5 hours, I got a call from John Nosack. I felt an immediate sense of calm as he explained the process to me. He literally held my hand in the days up to the intervention. Always there, always caring, always reassuring. I love the man and always will because of this. He helped us select a facility, and most importantly selected an Interventionist that would “fit” our son’s needs. Even after the intervention, he has been there when I need a touchstone of reassurance. I wonder, where in the world did you find such a human being that can give so much to people he does not even know? John Nosack will forever hold a corner of our hearts. Forever.

Then I got to speak with Jerry Bowling, the Interventionist. What can I say about Jerry that you probably don’t already know? Jerry is a blessing in our lives. After a million and one phone calls to him before the intervention day, arranging, crying, being scared, being mad, flipping out, questioning our decision, feelings of hysteria and hope (how those two go together I will never know but they do) were put into perspective with Jerry’s calming, and firm but gentle presence. His message was consistent: you are doing the right thing, stay strong, you can do this, you are doing the right thing, you are doing the right thing, you are doing the right thing. What I love the most about Jerry is his tenacity. He told us “this might take five minutes, or it might take five days. And I’ll be here as long as it takes”. This is more than we could have ever expected. But we received it with Jerry. Thankfully, it didn’t take five days (!!!) and Jerry flew with our son across the country to deliver him safely to what we pray will be his eventual path to recovery. But it doesn’t stop there. Jerry is still there for us. Still tenacious, still supportive, still knowing what we need to do and hear from him fight our son’s disease. Because of Jerry, WE are able to fight. Because of Jerry we know that unless we change, our son does not have a chance in you-know-where to change. Because of Jerry, we have hope. And hope is a commodity that any family suffering along with their addict must have to survive. We hope for our son, and ultimately have more hope for ourselves, as truly we need to recover to have the hope that our son will too. Because of Jerry we have learned to detach, with love, from our addiction to our son’s addiction, the source of the chaos in our lives. Because of Jerry we know we must CHANGE for our son to CHANGE, and that it doesn’t necessarily mean it happens at the same time for us and him. And that it’s OK. Have you gotten the impression that Jerry means a lot to us? He is our general and we are the soldiers in the war. That’s who Jerry is to us.

I can only pray that other suffering families will meet Jerry and John. They have punctuated our lives with HOPE, where there was none. I hope they can be strong enough to make the call, strong enough to lay aside their fear for just one moment and make the call to Intervention 911. We do not know what the future holds for our son and his journey. But now at least, we know we did everything humanly possible to right his path. Thank you seems not a strong enough statement to express our gratitude. Bless you..now that’s better !

Latest Episode of Intervention

Check out the latest episode of intervention. Everyone is talking about it:
http://www.aetv.com/intervention/video/index.jsp?bcpid=1452232410&bclid=25618112001&bctid=25714327001

Will Legalizing Marijuana Help the Economy?

The debate is on! Much like the legalization of alcohol boosted the economy in the late 1930's, various groups are looking seriously at legalizing marijuana to boost the economic crisis of today.
What are the pros? What are the cons?
The pros are that, indeed, there is money to be made for the federal and state governments if marijuana is legalized and taxed. In fact, big money.
However, one element that is being clearly ignored is the issue of substance abuse directly related to marijuana use.

Marijuana-addiction.net states:
"Marijuana side effects wreak havoc on the brain when the drug is used habitually. The natural chemical balance of the brain is disrupted affecting the pleasure centers and regulatory systems. The ability to learn, remember and adapt quickly to changes is impaired by marijuana use. Depression often occurs with marijuana usage, which feeds into the cycle of more drug use to treat the pain created by drug use. This cycle of addiction is very powerful and users soon find that they cannot stop using the drug even if they want to."

So, perhaps the legalization and taxation of marijuana would stimulate the economy, but so do cigarettes, alcohol and prescription pain medication, all of which have caused huge negative consequences.

As a country, we need to really think this one through. Is it worth it? Is it best for our nation's youth in the long run? What are we communicating to our children... that for a price, we are willing to sacrifice their future?

More often than not, even when the direct of effects of marijuana use do not result in negative consequences, it can easily be labeled as a "gateway drug". Numerous recovering addicts have pegged their initial innocent use of pot to lead to more dangerous and more addictive drugs such as methamphetamine, heroin and the list goes on.

Marijuana... at least it's not crack. Or is it?

Paula Admits Drug Abuse and Treatment

If you are anything like me, you noticed Paula Abdul's seemingly weird and erratic behavior on American Idol in past seasons. I figured she was either just a little odd or more probable, she was taking some type of medication that resulted in her "interesting" behavior on the show.
In a recent Ladies Home Journal interview, Paula has admitted that for the first time in 12 years, she is no longer dependent on prescription pail killers. (Side note: go Paula!)
There are a couple things about this interview I'd like to bring to the surface. First, Paula states that she never taped a show under the influence of medication. However, what is common knowledge within the addiction and recovery community is that drugs and alcohol have lasting effects. Perhaps a person is not under the direct influence at any given time, but their behaviors and tendencies often have changed due to the consistent use of the drug. This may, not for sure, be the case for Ms. Abdul.
One of the reasons Paula gave LHJ for her ongoing use of prescription medication was to deal with chronic pain as a result of being diagnosed with a condition known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome. She mentioned that she didn't want to be "counted out" and continued to take the painkillers in order to keep up with hectic shooting schedules and commitments. This sounds about right. Once a person is dependent on a drug, it often seems impossible to be without it due to both the withdrawal symptoms they may suffer by quitting and also the time involved in starting a program of recovery.
Fortunately, Paula checked herself into rehab and is on the straight and narrow this season. Every drug, whether legally prescribed or not, will eventually take it's toll. Dependency on anything, especially drugs and alcohol, becomes often more debilitating than the condition it was originally prescribed for.
Kudos to Ms. Abdul to realizing there was a problem and taking the steps necessary to deal with it. She has become a shining example to us that there is always help and hope for an addict willing to recover.

Ken Seeley Up Close