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Prozac Nation: Soon to be an Uninhabited Country?
Posted by Marisa Belger on December 5, 2005 - 3:11pm.
Prozac and other SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) made headlines last year when they were found to double the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior in kids and teens. Now it looks like the drugs may have a similar effect on adults.
In response to the threat to children, the FDA placed a “black box” warning on all SSRI package inserts cautioning doctors to monitor young patients closely during their first months of taking an SSRI. According to several experts interviewed in the current issue of FORTUNE, the same warning may soon be targeted to adults. “I’m fully expecting that the same [risk found in young patients] will be found in adults,” said Dr. Richard Kapit, an ex-FDA official who handled the agency’s first safety review of Prozac before its approval in 1987.
FORTUNE's comprehensive article examines the history of SSRIs, following the arc of their popularity and revealing holes in their theory and application. The author also looks at drug marketers' uncanny ability to sell the medication to people who don't need it. “Consider that the drugs, once limited to treating major depression, are now prescribed for everything from shyness about peeing in public restrooms to shopoholism. (Such uses aren’t approved by the FDA, but there’s no law against doctors prescribing SSRIs and other drugs for “off label” indications),” writes reporter David Stipp.
Stipp's excellent investigative piece opens with the death of 37-year-old Tim “Woody” Witczak, who committed suicide five weeks after starting Zoloft for work-related stress and closes with his widow's thoughts as she waits for her trial against Pfizer, Zoloft's manufacturer: “Prescription drugs … should not be treated in the same manner as cars, soap, or fast food,” Kim Witczak said at an FDA public hearing on direct-to-consumer drug ads. She emphasized that all serious side effects should be communicated “in a clear, concise, and honest manner, not just those that won’t scare people away from thinking twice about taking the drug.”
(Photo: Channel4.com)
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When I was twelve, I was diagnosed as having "Biological Depression with Obsessive Compulsive Tendencies and Intermittent Rage Syndrome". The various doctors, psychologists, counselors, etc. that I was sent to all decided that in order to be happy, I needed to be heavily medicated. It started with Prozac when I was 12 and in the next six years included Zoloft, Seroquel, Paxil, Risperdal, Trazodone, and Lexapro. All in various combinations and dosages (some incredibly high). The result was that I spent most of my teen years not only still severly depressed but also feeling numb and empty from the medication(s). It was only after I graduated and swore myself off anti-depressants completely that I was able to regain some control of my emotions. I have since found that more natural approaches are far more effective. I wish the information in this article had been out many years ago, when I myself was a suicidal kid on Prozac.