So says British Psychiatrist Dr David Healy in a NYT article about the difference in the rate of antidepressant prescriptions between England and the United States. There appears to be a rush in America and a go slow approach in Britain.
An American child is 5 times more likely to be prescribed an antidepressant.
Regulators in Britain are more conservative when approving drugs for market. And there is a lot of pressure in the U.S. to keep health care costs down.
Antidepressants are the insurance industry’s sole treatment of choice because it keeps costs down, even though it’s been proven that a combination of talk therapy and medication is the most effective treatment.
I don’t know whether pharmaceutical companies are allowed to market drugs for mental illness in Britain the same way it’s done in the States. Television ads of people turning from sad to happy after a pitch for whatever pill.
There is a strong correlation between the introduction of SSRI antidepressants and number of people diagnosed with depression.
One study presents hard evidence that large numbers of people labeled as bipolar don’t have the disease.
In a recent NPR interview a researcher, Mark Zimmerman of Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital found that when he screened patients who came in and said that they were diagnosed bipolar, he could not confirm the diagnosis. People were under diagnosed six years ago now the trend seems to be the reverse.
There is speculation in the NPR segment that it’s the relationship between the pharmaceutical companies and doctors along with the difference in screening procedures between a clinical trial and the doctors’ office that accounts for people being misdiagnosed.
Much of the education that doctors receive about meds comes from the drug companies who are naturally interested in pushing their solution.
The diagnosis of bipolar disorder is very complex.
Research studies use a long structured questionnaire to determine whether or not a person is bipolar. In the everyday world that you and I live in, screening at the doctor’s office is likely to be based on a few anecdotes and some general discussion.
The cultural pressure in the U.S., economic and social, to prescribe antidepressants is very real. After all the drug companies have to make money and the doctors have to treat tons of patients. The next question is are we succumbing to the pressure.
