Take Caution With Meds

Pharmaceutical company advertisements tell consumers that their anxiety, depression, or other psychological difficulty results from a “chemical imbalance” in the brain, and their product will restore balance. One can argue that being told you are depressed because you have a neurotransmitter deficiency is analogous to being told you have a headache because you have an aspirin deficit in your body. You take the aspirin, the imbalance is removed, and the headache goes away. Unfortunately, if the headache is caused by family or school pressures, trying to keep a friend’s secret, or some other problem the aspirin is not affecting, your headache will return.   By the same token, if your psychological symptoms are caused by an inability to deal with personal difficulties in life, those symptoms may linger in spite of taking psychiatric medication; the drug is not solving your difficulties.

Psychiatric medication can be helpful in many cases involving psychological symptoms. Its use, however, should not be jumped into without considerable thought and advice from a variety of professionals. Medicine is only one arm of the mental health system; you should also listen to psychologists, social workers, and counselors who bring a variety of perspectives to the table. Also, remember that taking multiple drugs can have unexpected side effects, and affect the brain in ways we still do not understand. For instance, there is evidence that certain types of anti-depressants and anti-psychotic medications can increase the risk of dementia. Furthermore, there is evidence showing that standard (not psychiatric) prescription medications taken for a variety of physical ailments, can result in mood disorders, especially depression, and make one highly susceptible to extreme complications, even suicide.

Sometimes parents are conflicted when psychiatric meds are recommended for their teenage, or even younger, kids. When young people are the clients, whose brains are still developing, potential dangers can be magnified, and the caution about getting multiple perspectives is even more crucial. Whether children or adults, however, when considering psychiatric medication for your problems, go into it with your eyes open. Such medication can be a huge help to many people; it can also be a big waste of time—and carry health risks—for many others.