by Kate Johns

Created on: December 01, 2008

What did people do in the good old days when they became depressed? Did they take anti-depressants and feel great again? I don't think so. They worked through it, or sat in a corner feeling gloomy, until a well- intentioned friend or relative prodded them into the real world once again.

Even though I was prescribed an anti -depressant for my stomach problems, I firmly believe that we have become a nation of over prescribed, pill poppers. Americans and British people and Canadians are taking way too many over the counter, and physician prescribed medications.

When you go to a friend's or a relative's home and you go to the bathroom, do you open the medicine cabinet to see magical items you will find inside? Of course you do. Most likely, you will find prescription drugs inside.

Millions of people are taking something to fix something. Many times it doesn't even need to be fixed. Anti-depressants are an excellent source of fixing a problem for people that absolutely need them. For people that are obsessive compulsive, or a woman that gave birth and has hormone issues, certainly they need to take anti-depressants. For a woman going through menopause, or for a person that is very depressed and can't function in real life, yes, they all need the help that anti-depressants can give them.

To keep a person functioning in every day life as a well-adjusted human being, then great they should have anti-depressants to take to live life to the fullest. But, lately it seems doctors are just prescribing pills to get a patient out of the office.

Several years ago, I became upset with my Mother for going to a doctor that I called "the pill popper". Whenever she came home from seeing this doctor, she would have a new prescription for what seemed to be a made up ailment. The doctor never sent her for tests. He would just figure it out and give her a prescription. Then doctors started doing the exact opposite. They were sending people for tests and not prescribing any medication until the test results came in. By that time a person could die.

Now it seems we have come full circle and doctors are once again prescribing medication and then sending a person for tests. Millions of people are taking antidepressants, and in reality this just seems depressing that ten percent of Americans need to be on anti depressants. Is the world really that bad? Certainly there are other ways around taking drugs that have serious side effects such as causing liver damage, hair loss, heart palpitations,

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