Oh, The Pain Of It!

Surely the great multinational pharmaceuticals whose anti-depressant sales represent the bulwark of their splendorous coffers of earnings, issued one great heartfelt groan of pure pain at the recently-released research findings suggesting that the wholesale use of prescribed anti-depressants give value to scant few patients, while sending the profits of their makers into the stratosphere.

One after another, the "cures" in pill form for whatever ails humankind are proving to be somewhat less than efficacious despite what their manufacturers claim. And little wonder, given the scores of deleterious side effects commonly experienced by those unfortunate enough to have been prescribed medications for the failing organs and other bodily constituents that so plague humankind. From congenital malfunctions to lifestyle-derived diseases.

We've become so accustomed to popping pills most of us never read the cautionary literature in the finest of print that comes with the medications, or the pharmacy print-outs warning of the potential for iatrogenic effects. High blood pressure, cholesterol, stroke and heart medication, anti-inflammatories; they've all got their dirty little secrets.

Hyperactive children are placed on a steady diet of chemicals to induce compliance. Long term side effects? Who knows?

And that huge segment of any population visiting a doctor complaining of symptoms identified as depressive, are routinely handed out prescriptions for anti-depressants. Upset over something? Deal with it. Get out in the fresh air, exercise, take yoga lessons, indulge in a little meaningful introspection to isolate the cause of one's depression.

Now four "new-generation" anti-depressants - inclusive of Prozac, Effexor, Serzone and Paxil, have been demonstrated to be roughly equivalent to a placebo for effectiveness. In other words, mind over matter; think you're imbibing a chemical that will have a useful effect on your "condition" and it will.

And since one in six individuals will experience depression at some point in their lives, that's one huge audience clamouring for chemical relief from what ails them.

Oh sure, it was found that in extreme cases of depression, those who are incapable of responding to other types of intervention, the anti-depressions can have an ameliorating effect, but that group is representationally minuscule. In Canada alone, 30.2-million prescriptions were filled for anti-depressions in a one-year period.

It's easy for a harried and busy family physician to scribble out a prescription, then go on to the next complainer.

Of that 30.2-million prescriptions, about 20-million were filled for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, a newer generation depressant. New is always good for the pharmaceuticals, it means more sales, more assurances going out to prescribing physicians and patients alike that their health problems will be well looked after.

Trouble is the SSRLs have been linked with an increased risk of suicide, particularly among young people.

It's not only the pharmaceutical giants feeling the pain of revelation. Some health professionals are exceedingly reluctant to give up a valued tool of their profession. Yet it's a known fact that many doctors will prescribe pills the moment someone presents with symptoms of depression.

"One thing I can tell you is that as you go up the scale of depression, the proportion of people (who are extremely depressed) gets fewer and fewer, according to professor of psychology at the University of Hull in Britain, Irving Kirsch.

The study, just published in the journal PLoS (Public Library of Science) Medicine found that the anti-depressants provided virtually no benefit over placebos for moderate depression, and only a small measure of help for those who are severely depressed.

That indicates, says the study's lead author, Dr. Kirsch: ".... that depressed people can improve without chemical treatments".