Should all anti-depressants be banned?

Well. First off, lots of antidepressants, can’t just be discontinued. The person needs close/frequent contact with a doctor. Some have extreme personality changes, when even minor dosage changes are made.

Many of the people they know can be affected, when someone changes the dosage of their antidepressant , or abuses other drugs , in conjunction.

So, there’d have to be a way to deal with that.

The black market would benefit.

Case by case (as stated by the op,) plus close, continuous checking on the patient’s responses to the med , would be ideal.

Abuse of such drugs, is rampant though. Same with opioids. And that needs to be assessed, with constructive, unbiased and realistic suggested courses of action, and possible negative effects.

I think most drugs should be legal. Just not abused. If the patient isn’t taking a prescribed drug, as directed by the doctor, it could have unforseen effects. But if they took the drugs ,as directed by a competent physician, they might better their lives…

Is your friend a Scientologist? They’re very much opposed to anti-depressants.

Anti-depressants have saved many lives and made many people productive individuals.

@MrGrimm888 Anti depressant abuse is rather minor, and really only by those abusing/addicted to other drugs. Anti depressants don’t get you high or stoned or wired the way meth or opioids do.

No, they should not be banned. I do think they are overprescribed and doctors are often careless with the carefull followup care that they require. However, make no mistake, they are life saving drugs.

I don’t know why anyone would “abuse” anti-depressants. You don’t get high from them.

When you say they should only “be used on a case by case basis,” they are only used on a case by case basis. The doctor prescribes them to each person on a case by case basis.

@jca That was in reference to the issue that some doctors are over-prescribing anti-depressants

I have never taken an antidepressant so I don’t discuss this from a stance of “this helped me.”

I just googled it and found this article, which is informative and I think it’s objectively written.

http://www.berkeleywellness.com/healthy-mind/mood/article/are-antidepressants-overprescribed

I took Paxel for over 18 months during a crisis my family was having. Had I not taken it, I would have committed suicide.

Should prosthetic limbs be banned? How about heart transplants?

No. I can’t even imagine thinking about getting rid of the entire class of these drugs. I do think they are over-prescribed though.

A large study several years ago showed in an incredible amount of cases a placebo had the same effect.

I do have friends that have had significant success with them, and I don’t think it was placebo in those particular cases.

I mean, if we’re talking about medically necessary things that sometimes end poorly for the patient, why limit the ban to only things that affect brain chemistry?

In fact, let’s change medicine so only procedures and treatments with 100% efficacy and zero side effects are allowed.

Then, when we’re all dying of simple infections, we can revisit how stupid it is to argue banning medical treatments for not working perfectly all of the time.

What is the case for not using them? Depression can be a fatal disease, given the number of cases that result in suicide.

There have been some promising results on the use of LSD for treating depression.

@zenvelo . I was mainly referring to people who don’t take such med as prescribed, or abuse other substances while on the AD. That’s not “rather minor.” That’s a lot of people whom law enforcement deal with, when they are either off theirmeds, and on something else, or on their meds, and on something else.

I’m not sure if I was right, but I was including drugs like xanex, ativan, valium, aderal etc as well.

When people who are on those drugs, and they drink, or mix them with other drugs, they can become a threat to society. Well, mainly to their closest friends and family.

Again, I agree such drugs are good, when appropriately dispensed. But they are over prescribed, and heavily abused. And it isn’t a euphoric effect I’m talking about, it’s a personality effect.

Why the hell would we do that? They treat a health condition.

“drugs like xanex, ativan, valium, aderal etc as well”
Not anti-depressants

Sure, after we get rid of Viagra.

First of all, they will never be banned. Even if they can lead to suicidal thoughts (ideation) you have to realize how much cash Big Pharma is making with these things.
Otherwise I know next to nothing about their effectiveness. I know one lady who has taken them for ten years and she is prone to depression; even severe outbreaks of sobbing. The other one had her doctor add on a second one but she told me it never worked. Both of these women had problems with men and/or husbands for most of their lives.