It´s no secret that the amount of antidepressants prescribed during the last decades has increased dramatically, there are probably several reasons, pharmaceutical companies try to obtain the highest possible profit by developing new medicines all the time, people see ads for antidepressants from pharmaceutical companies On television and they ask their doctors about them, doctors take the line of least resistance and prescribe the medications, while insurance companies pay psychiatrists for the handling of medications, in addition, doctors occasionally make erroneous diagnoses .
But I think that most sympathetic and honest doctors know the difference between sadness and depression and do not prescribe antidepressants the first time, depression is a sadness that gets out of control, its symptoms include altered sleep, total lack of interest in Pleasurable activities, persistent feelings of hopelessness, and complete social isolation can start with sadness due to a difficult circumstance of life, such as the loss of a loved one, but it becomes a disease at a point where a person has difficulty functioning day a day.
People who have been diagnosed with depression by competent doctors, for them antidepressants have been a lifesaver, on the other hand, I know a friend who says that for him, the side effects of antidepressants were as disabling as his depression, they are also People who take medication for a while, and once they have learned the right skills to cope, can get out of it, as you see, there is not a correct answer for everyone.
What you need to know is that even if your psychiatrist prescribes you on an antidepressant, what you should know is that there is no guarantee that it works, it is a matter of trial and error until the psychiatrist finds the right medication or combination of medications that work, no two people respond the same to a given medication and what works for another person may not work for you, in addition, medication is never a substitute for other treatment modalities such as therapy and exercise, medication works better when it is accompanied by a total treatment.
In summary, there are many factors that have contributed to the explosion of prescriptions for antidepressant medications, but as a society, you must make sure that you are taking antidepressants for the right reasons, that means only if you really need them.