Side Effects: Why Medication for Depression and Anxiety May Be a Bad Option

It is alluring to think that a pill could cure your mental and emotional woes – “a pill for every ill.”  Drug companies spend billions of dollars convincing doctors and the public that such medications are worth the cost –- and that medication will treat depression and anxiety. However, research at top institutions such as Harvard University indicate otherwise. For example, studies show that for mild or moderate depression, antidepressants have almost no advantage over sugar pills. The side effects of antidepressants, however, are very real.

For instance, for the most commonly prescribed antidepressants, such as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and other SSRIs, most common side effects include the following:

* Weight gain
* Sleepiness
* Insomnia
* Tremors
* Increased suicide risk
* Dry mouth
* Decreased sex drive
* Diarrhea
* Nausea
* Headaches
* Restlessness
* Anxiety

While some side effects may diminish after the first few weeks of drug treatment, others persist and may even get worse. The FDA even requires a black box warning on these medications, warning that

In addition to these potent side effects, the high cost, and the low level of effectiveness of antidepressants, for some people getting off them may be very difficult due to withdrawal symptoms. To make matters worse, even after a person has managed to taper off these medications, he or she is often returned to their original state of depression –- since they have not learned new skills for overcoming their emotional difficulties.

Furthermore, treatment with antidepressants will sometimes cause an increase, rather than a decrease, in depression—and with it, an increased risk of suicide. That’s why the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires a black box warning on all SSRIs, warning that “Antidepressants increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children, adolescents, and young adults.”  An increased suicide risk has also been found for people trying to taper off their medications.

Anti-Anxiety Medications

Unfortunately, anti anxiety medications—such as Valium, Xanax, Klonopin and Librium, have an equally bad reputation in medical studies. Recent research (in the British Medical Journal) has shown a link between taking these types of drugs and a person’s chances of experiencing Alzheimer’s and dementia as they get older. In addition, these drugs have their own list of unpleasant side effects—such as clouded thinking, sleepiness, a problem of potential addiction, and severe withdrawal symptoms.

Considering all the problems associated with antidepressant and antianxiety medications, it’s a wonder they’re taken so often. Indeed, many professionals decry the widespread inappropriate prescribing of these drugs. That is partly due to the power of advertising to doctors and patients. Yet it is also due to the fact that, until recently, there has been a shortage of truly effective and low cost programs for treating depression and anxiety.

Fortunately, nowadays such programs do exist. For example, one popular home study course is “From Sad to Glad: How to Overcome Stress, Anxiety, and Depression and Feel Happy Again.”   In this audio course renowned physician Dr. Emmett Miller and psychotherapist Jonathan Robinson teach people all the latest and best ways to, step-by-step, overcome their emotional difficulties. The course has many simple exercises, precise suggestions, and even recommendations of low cost supplements that have been shown to be as effective as anti depressants—but without the nasty side effects.

The full From S.A.D. to Glad program is now available for free. Click here for the full program.