Stanley 1

Nicole Stanley
Gardner
Honors English
3 May 2015
To Take or Not to Take
Antidepressants are the most prescribed medication in the United States, and are taken by one in
ten Americans, or ten percent. These drugs help the chemical imbalance in the brain to become rebalanced
and regular again so that a person may live a happy life. Many believe prescribing drugs to children and
teens for their mental illness is wrong and has the ability to cause suicide and self-harm; although, by
taking this drug many have achieved happiness and a new life. In most cases, parents should allow their
child to be prescribed antidepressant drugs whether it is for a short period to help overcome lesser
problems or long term to help in overcoming severe and serious disorders. In either case, antidepressants
can help to improve their overall quality of life.

Some parents do not see the benefits of antidepressants and fear that it is true that the
drugs have the ability to increase suicidal thoughts. In an experiment documented by Kim
Painter, health records of 162,625 depression patients, ages ten to sixty four treated with the most
popular brands of antidepressants-Celexa, Prozac, and Zoloft-were checked for symptoms such
as self-harm and suicidal thoughts. After a year, children, teens and young adults were twice as
likely to engage in deliberate self harm if they started at higher doses. Such acts were especially
common in the first three months. (Painter) Antidepressants have the power to take a child's
thoughts, which are already affected by a disorder, and make them even worse through selfhatred, guilt, and fear. A lot of parents do not like the idea of their children on drugs for they
feel that as a parent, they could be judged by other parents and fear as well for their child being
looked at differently by their fellow peers and friends. Society has turned the word drug into a
horrific word. TV shows and movies create entire plot lines over how bad drugs are. These

Stanley 2
shows create a negative image around every drug in existence and make them out to be the
enemy of every human being; neglecting to touch on drugs that can be helpful to the body (i.e.
antidepressants). Parents constantly remind their children to steer clear of drugs since they are so
damaging for the body. As a parent, to allow your child to be prescribed a drug is hard to
process, hence their reluctance to antidepressants. My mother has gone through such a decision
when deciding to prescribe me an antidepressant, I felt like I was watching my child suffer, and
all other attempts at natural remedies and therapy seemed to not make a difference, medication
was avoided until I felt like it was our last and only option. Even though there are some tests
promoting the negative in antidepressants, the right medicine can cure the mind and allow it to
be free of apprehension and unhappiness.
Different antidepressants for different disorders each posses diverse symptoms ranging from nausea to
weight gain: however, not all have the side effects of suicidal thoughts. In the article Are We OverMedicating Our Kids? by Lisa Mayoh, a mother of a child with ADHD, Lucy, is interviewed and was
incredibly happy with the results of her antidepressant used for her son, Within about three weeks of him
being on the medication he was a different kid. As a whole, antidepressants have a twenty-five percent
efficiency rate, meaning that there is a twenty-five percent chance that taking an antidepressant will
greatly help a child. If parents feel that medication will be the final and most logical cause of suicide,
then they have two choices: they can take a risk and have trust that the medicine will truly help, or wait
for depression to get the best of their child and let them take their own life. There is no guarantee that a
child with depression will commit suicide, although ninety percent of all suicides are of people diagnosed
with some type of mental disorder. Such a startling fact makes taking risks on medication seem like the
right thing to do, and it is. When a child on medication commits suicide, all fingers point to the
antidepressants without any further research. Most of the time, the taker abuses the drug on purpose to
cause death, The drugs were usually tranquilizers taken in large doses as a suicide attempt. Narcotics
were not included. (Freyer) It has only been proven that two medications have a symptom of suicidal

Stanley 3
thoughts: Zoloft and Paxil. Other more common medications such as Prozac and Lexapro keep a steady
chemical balance in the brain. Overall, antidepressants are not proven to be linked to suicide. Patients
with mental disorders have the ability to use the pills purposely through an overdose to cause death, but
the chemicals in the pills themselves cannot harm a child while they are taking their daily dose.
Aside from the fact that antidepressants are not a main cause of suicide, they have the power to turn a
persons life around for the better, surrounding them in newfound happiness and lifting a dark cloud of
which they have been living under. Parents vaccinate their children with flu medicine, HPV shots, chicken
pox, and more for diseases their child doesnt even have yet. Wouldnt a parent want to help their children
out through an illness they do posses? Korina Lopez poses this same question, Parents slather sun block
on their kids, hold them tight when they get flu shots, give them medicine when they're sick. Should
mental illness be treated with drugs, too? The answer remains yes. Both a vaccination and an
antidepressant do similar things to the body. Once injected, a vaccination combats and prevents diseases
that try to get in to the body. Once taken, antidepressants help to balance out the chemical imbalance in
the brain to prevent major symptoms of mental illness. In the article Mental Health Statistics Young
Minds Professionals give astounding facts, One in ten children and young people aged five to sixteen
suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder. In 2008 alone four thousand children under ten years
old were prescribed antidepressants (Mayoh). Numbers like these prove that there are parents that go the
right direction in prescribing antidepressants to their kids. Giving your child a flu shot or an HPV
vaccination is similar to allowing your child to take medication. Both help the child in different ways, but
both keep the child happy and healthy.
By drawing from personal experience, I can say that yes, antidepressants are not harmful in any way and
are one hundred percent helpful. Since I was little I always noticed something different about the way I
processed things. I wanted everything to be clean, I wanted to follow daily routines, I wanted to sit and
worry about the silliest things, and was always extremely hard on myself. Finally, an answer presented
itself. In fourth grade I was diagnosed with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), in eighth grade I was
diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder, in ninth grade I was diagnosed with depression. Some mental illnesses

Stanley 4
have been linked to abnormal functioning of nerve cell circuits or pathways that connect particular brain
regions. (Goldberg) This means that the nerve circuits or pathways (communication system) doesnt
work the way it should, causing an offset of chemicals in the brain. OCD is found in the front regions of
the brain, anxiety is found in the amygdala, and depression is found in parts of the cerebellum. After
attending weekly therapy sessions I still couldnt rid of my own damaging thoughts. It felt as if I were in a
tight, claustrophobic room, and the walls kept closing in, and I couldnt escape. After about a year, my
mom turned to her next option: medication, specifically Prozac. Since I have been on the antidepressant
for the last six months, I have never felt better. Before I begand the medication I would wither in my own
thoughts of self-hatred and fear. Now I am able to sleep well, stray from my routines every now and then,
and best of all, live cheerfully and contentedly. Antidepressants truly saved my life, and my story can be
added to the many others that receive a positive outcome from the drugs, proving to the world that they
are good for those in need, and should be taken into consideration for struggling teens.

By allowing their child to begin antidepressants, parents can take a breath of relief as their child
embarks on the path to getting better. With the use of antidepressants, the rate of suicide can be
lowered significantly by helping so many to overcome their elephant-like thoughts weighing
down on their mind. Even if some drugs have the ability to cause a symptom of suicidal thoughts
and self harm, it is the persons final decision whether to go through with taking their own life or
not, not the drugs. Statistically, everyone knows at least one person struggling with a disorder,
whether they have been informed or not. A persons life is a fragile thing, one wrong thought or
one mistake can end it. Antidepressants not only can prevent a person from taking their own life
but can and will improve ones overall quality of life allowing for their true and more positive self
to emerge.

Stanley 5

Works Cited
Freyer, Felice J. "Study Links Shunning of Drug, Rise in Suicide Tries." Boston Globe. 19 Jun.
2014: A.1. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 06 May 2015.
Goldberg, Joseph, MD. "Causes of Mental Illness." WebMD. WebMD, 8 Feb. 2014. Web. 06
May 2015.
Insel, Thomas. "Director's Blog: Antidepressants: A Complicated Picture." NIMH RSS. N.p., 6
Dec. 2011. Web. 12 May 2015.
Lopez, Korina. "Parents of Bipolar Kids Face Hard Questions." USA TODAY. 11 Dec. 2012: D.3.
SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 06 May 2015.
Mayoh, Lisa. "Are We Over-Medicating Our Kids?." Sunday Herald-Sun (Melbourne) Australia.
25 Jul. 2010: 2. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 06 May 2015.

Stanley 6
"Mental Health Statistics." Mental Health Statistics. YoungMinds, 2015. Web. 06 May
2015.
Painter, Kim. "High Antidepressant Dose Linked to Self Harm in Youths." Gannett News Service.
28 Apr. 2014: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 06 May 2015.
"Suicide Facts and Figures - Overnight Walk." American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, n.d. Web. 06 May 2015.