Drugs Draft

Depression is a chemical imbalances in the brain that cause a mental disorder. The most common symptoms or signs of which are long lasting feeling of hopelessness and despair, poor concentration, lack of energy, and sometimes, suicidal tendencies. It is unknown what causes the chemical imbalances that result in depression. This is why researchers who study the illness believe depression consist of risk factors instead of causes. A risk factor is anything that may increase the probability that the illness will occur. An example would be cancer. People who have cancer have a greater chance of having depression than someone who does not have cancer. Another risk factor could be a tragic incident such as rape, death of a love one, etc. If a person believes they are suffering from some or all symptoms of depression, the person can go through the diagnostic process. The diagnostic procedures are the methods used to identify a condition or illness. The process of diagnosing a patient takes a lot of time and patience. The doctor will perform a check up, laboratory tests. If the patient does not show any physical signs of depression, he or she will be asked for a psychological evaluation. Health car professionals are careful when evaluating clients for depression because it takes more than just a feeling of sadness. They have to gather as much information as they could before deciding that the patient has depression. If the results of the evaluation states the patient has depression, they will be prescribed antidepressants.
　
An antidepressant is a drug that relieves depression or another condition related to depression. An example of an antidepressant drug is Prozac. According to Helen Packard, “these antidepressants work deep inside the brain, in the spaces between brain cells called synapses. In the synapses, a chemical called serotonin acts a messenger for the brain. Serotonin carries messages across synapses from brain cell to brain cell, to the rest of the body.” For some people, serotonin is not a good messenger. It may not stay in the synapse long enough to carry messages or it may be stolen back by the first brain cell and carry any messages at all. This occurs in patients who have depression. Prozac seemed to be the right choice for people who suffer from the illness. The problem is Prozac isn’t adequately tested. Dr. Peter Breggin, coauthor of Talking Back To Prozac, questions the data about the success of the drug. “The high dropout rates in all [those] research projects make it impossible to conclude that 65 to 70 percent of the patients were improved. At least one-third of the patients usually failed to finish the trials, and vast majority of protocols and individuals studies showed no positive effect from Prozac.” This means the pharmacological companies aren’t testing the drug as they should and there stretching the truth about the statistics of Prozac. This shows how the pharmacological companies could risk the lives of people who suffer from depression for the all might dollar. A person’s health shouldn’t be at risk if the are being lied to about the statistics of the drug. Prozac isn’t for everyone and like any other drugs, it has different affects on people. The problem with Prozac is doctors are prescribing this medication without properly diagnosing the patient with depression. Also, patients want a “quick fix” to the symptoms they are experiencing due to depression. For example, Peter’s father died of cancer. He started to feel down and nervous all the time. Peter believed his mother would die and he didn’t want her to go anywhere without him. Peter went to the doctor, described his symptoms, he was prescribed Prozac. About two weeks later, he started to feel better. After almost a year on Prozac his doctor suggested he stop taking the antidepressant. The doctor thought it was a good idea to see if he can live his life without the drug. Peter decreased his dosage of Prozac until the drug was completely out of his system. He began to get the symptoms again. He decided to talk to someone about his problems. As time went by Peter felt like therapy has helped him deal with the death of his father. Prozac didn’t work for Peter because the drug pushed his grief aside and he felt “normal” again. This gave Peter the illusion that the drug was working. When he wasn’t taking Prozac, the symptoms started to come back. The fact of the matter is, Peter has to deal with his feelings. He cannot just sweep them under the rug. In his case, he can’t just take a antidepressant and think the pain will go away. Instead of taking antidepressants for a “quick fix” there are other alternatives for defeating depression.

There is a natural safe alternative way of over coming depression which is called homeopathic. Homeopathic is a unique form of medicine with its philosophy, medicines, and methods of treatment.
The single principle on which homeopathy is fundamentally based is the “law of similars.” This means that the same substance that causes a particular set of symptoms in a healthy person can relieve similar symptoms in a person who is ill. This where the term homeopathy meaning “similar suffering,” originated. Homeopathy is natural, non toxic, and doesn’t contain side effects. The medicine is created by natural materials such as the plant, mineral, animal kingdoms. The philosophy of homeopathic medicine is understanding each person as a whole. Homeopathy medicines are energy medicines which have indirect physiological effects through stimulation of the immune system, other restorative, protective body mechanisms (Ullman, Judyth, Robert 58). The treatment is inexpensive. A single dose of homeopathic medicine costs between three and ten dollars, it may last for weeks or months. In contrast Prozac cost about eighty dollars per month.