Antidepressant Use Quadrupled for 12- to 17-Year-Olds

According to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, kids 12 to 17 years old are four times as likely to take an antidepressant than they were 20 years ago. Girls are 2 1/2 times as likely to be prescribed antidepressants. Here's a look at statistics on pediatric antidepressant usage and considerations for parents in seeking treatment for kids with MDE (major depressive episodes), mood disorders or depression.

Fewer kids, more antidepressants

In 1988, less than 1 percent of teens were prescribed an antidepressant. Now, 3.7 percent of those 12 to 17 take one. 11 million children younger than 19 are on anxiety or depression meds. Contrast this increase with the fact the overall percentage of the population in this age category has dropped. In 1964, 36 percent of Americans were in the 0-17 age range (about 9 percent were 12-17). Now, children account for about 24 percent. There are fewer children in the U.S., but more medicated for depression.

Antidepressants up, Major Depressive Episodes down for kids

The criteria for antidepressant prescription comes from a patient-reported survey, the PHQ-9. Patients rate the severity of mood issues: sadness, irritability, apathy, joylessness, guilt and worthlessness. Other questions deal with thoughts of death or suicide, inability to concentrate, difficulty making decisions, fatigue, lack of energy, feeling restless or slowed down, changes in sleep, appetite, and activity levels. High incidence in any one of these categories is called an MDE (Major Depressive Episode). The number of MDEs in children has dropped for most age categories and both genders. Fewer children are reporting MDEs, but more are medicated for them.

Antidepressants without clinical evaluations, therapy

The CDC report says that less than one-third of adolescents taking an antidepressant, have been seen by a physician within the last year. Eight percent of those taking antidepressants didn't have symptoms of depression. This bears out studies which show that many kids get antidepressants, without adequate clinical or psychological support, therapy or counseling. As reported by insurance companies, less than half of kids on anantidepressant also see a therapist. Older kids are more likely to exhibit depression that younger kids, but they received counseling less often. The percentage is dropping annually. ChildStats says that the percentage of children with MDE who actually discuss the depressive episode with a physician or counselor has declined as well. 40 percent received psychological treatment in 2005 and only 35 percent in 2009.

FDA warns against SSRI antidepressants for teens and kids

The FDA began posting black-box warnings on SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) antidepressants because they have been linked to "anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, impulsivity, akathisia (severe restlessness), hypomania, and mania" (many of the symptoms parents give the drug for, ironcially).  The FDA issued a specific cautionary warning about SSRIs used to treat pediatric patients. Symptoms tend to show up more with younger patients, and new antidepressant patients, primarily children. The onset for these symptoms in usually within the first two months of use. The FDA urges parents and health care providers to monitor children on antidepressants and to discontinue use if depression symptoms worsen.

Paxil Antidepressant Caused Weight Gain, High Cholesterol, Possibly Stillbirth

Eleven years ago, I began taking the antidepressant medication Paxil (Paroxetine, Fluxetine) for anxiety issues. Paxil is now known to cause many side effects. Weight gain and elevated LDL cholesterol are two problems commonly caused by Paxil. In 2001, Paxil was a newer antidepressant and less was known about it. A therapist had recommended that I consult my physician about trying the highly touted Paxil for my recurrent panic attacks.

Paxil did help me manage and process my panic attacks and anxiety issues. However I became increasingly alarmed over the horror stories linking Paxil with infant birth defects, miscarriage and stillborn babies.Before I had heard of Paxil's link to pregnancy and birth problems, I had taken Paxil during a pregnancy, under my Ob Gyn and midwife's direction. That pregnancy ended in stillbirth.

Paxil also caused weight gain. For the first 40 odd years of my life, I a) maintained a constant weight of 115-130 pounds even after giving birth four times and b) did not take anti-depressants. In 2003, I went on Paxil after the loss of a baby. Since then I've been steadily gaining weight. Yes, I'm getting older, yes I'm in menopause. But those two factors together are not enough to explain this rampant weight gain.

I explored thyroid issues. Initial tests showed that I suffered from some hypothyroid (sluggish, low functioning thyroid) and some hyperthyroid (overactive thyroid) issues. I took Levoxyl or Synthroid. Later test showed, however, that my thyroid was 'fine'. Studies show that the the Levoxyl threshold levels in general testing are way to broad to be accurate. So thyroid issues may still a problem.

Of course there is always the obvious weight gain issue. Too many calories, not enough exercise. For the first 40 plus years, I have been able to eat pretty much whatever I wanted and not gain weight. Well, I thought, that's clearly no longer the case. I went on a stringent vegetarian diet, no soda, few sweets, no eggs, very limited dairy and only yogurt, vegetables, whole grains, fiber, lots of water, the whole diet package. I have followed this regime for over four months. Not one pound did I lose. In fact, I gained weight.

So something was clearly wrong. I asked the doctor if antidepressants cause weight gain and found that indeed they do. Maybe that's a dumb question. Maybe I should have known. Or maybe my doctor should have told me about the weight gain. He's the one filling out the prescription with one hand and scolding me for not losing weight with the other. And you want to know what's really bizarre? My appetite has changed since being on the Paxil. In fact I have very little appetite. Food doesn't taste as good. I have lost my taste for chocolate, cheese, desserts, ice cream, all the things I used to enjoy, before antidepressants, and still I gain weight. But I can also easily binge and not notice it, thanks to the drugging Paxil.

When I googled "antidepressant weight gain" I found a deluge of comments from folks who have experienced the same issues. Now that is depressing! There are better antidepressants for avoiding weight gain. Wellbutrin has a better reputation than Paxil and Depakote. But I decided to skip the drugs and wean myself off from all the meds. I'm continuing the healthier eating program. If you want to follow the journey or have antidepressant horror stories of your own to share follow this blog.

2016 update to this post: Guess what? After quitting the drugs, calorie counting and working at weight loss, I've shed 100 pounds and 10 sizes!

Mind-Body Connections: How Depression Affects Physical Health

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Emotional and Psychological Addiction to Antidepressants

I took antidepressants for seven years and quit all depression drugs in 2009. I was shocked at the low level to which I had stooped with self-care, while on the antidepressant. Taking better care of myself was one of the reasons I began taking antidepressants in the first place. But in fact what I was doing was systematically sabotaging my own mental health by medicating emotions rather than listening to and dealing with them. 

Prior to beginning the antidepressant Paxil, I had put in about 5 years of solid work on my emotional recovery. I was working my program, not to perfection as no one is perfect, but I was making good progress. Then I suffered some major setbacks and decided that recovery was impossible without medication. I lost two stillborn babies and had some terrible experiences with a house we had purchased. It was too much.

While taking the medication, I told myself and everyone else, that I was keeping up on my mental health homework, journaling, processing emotions, listening to my emotions and body, working my program. I was in fact, slipping deeper and deeper into drug-induced apathy. That's because SSRIs and antidepressants do not treat depression. They mask it. They mask all feelings, positive and negative. I didn't realize how miserable I'd become on medication, because the Paxil was preventing the SOS messages my body was sending from getting through to my brain.

A few weeks off from the anti-depressants showed me that I had let my recovery program severely slip. I was appalled at how good I'd gotten at ignoring my own needs. True I didn't get as angry as I once did. But my fault lay in attributing my own strides in mental health to a pill. Rather than accepting that I had grown was developing healthier habits, I automatically gave all the credit to the little pink pill. 

I began to think that without the Paxil, I would become an emotional basket case, unable to function in a healthy way. I was terrified to quit taking it lest I revert to some sort of mindless, psychotic life-form. I was psychologically addicted to my antidepressant. It took a dear friend to remind me that I wasn't a mindless, psychotic life form before I went on the pills I could not revert to something I had never been. 

We learn a lot from our feelings, perceptions and sensations. Anti-depressants may not be physically addictive, but they can be horribly emotionally and psychologically addictive. For more on health, visit my blogs at Emotional Health Help and Health Help 4U. Follow my recovery journey on this blog. 

Quitting SSRI Antidepressants: Understanding Panic Attacks and Normal Depression

If you've been taking an anti-depressant, especially an SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) for some time and want to quit, you'll want to prepare for certain withdrawal symptoms. Self-medicating bouts of depression and panic attacks delays recovery. In fact, self-medicating by taking your anti-depressants only when you "really need it" will cripple your efforts to quit.


What is 'self-medicating'? It means to take medication when you subjectively decide you need it, instead of following recommended medical protocol. It doesn't refer to making informed choices about medication that may differ from conventional wisdom. Self-mediating is addictive habit taking medications when you want it or think you need it.

When you wean yourself from an anti-depressant, especially an SSRI, it's very easy to self-medicate. As your body, mind and hormones adjust to an unmedicated state, you may feel "symptoms" that are similar to the symptoms that sent you for a prescription to start with. It's easy to misinterpret these recovery symptoms. Many people become convinced that they cannot get off the meds and can only function "normally" with an antidepressant. 

This is what I call fear-induced medication. You continue taking the antidepressant not because you need it but because you're afraid that without it, you'll be a basket case.
 As you come off the anti-depressants, you will have times of depression, anxiety and panic attacks. These are normal feelings, typically. But while you were on your antidepressant those feelings were numbed. But they were still there. The anti-depressant did not "heal" them. It made you more apathetic about the issues, that's all. 

Painkillers don't cure pain, they mask it. If the pain is emotional, anti-depressants work by dulling emotions. So it only stands to reason that as you begin to live life drug-free, you may notice periods of depression, anxiety, panic and sadness.
 If you can remind yourself that by and large, these feelings episodic, transient and temporary, you will be less likely to run back to the antidepressants. 

If you do run for the meds every times you feel pain, you will hormonal spikes and drug-induced manic-depressive episodes. So walk through the feelings. Give them time to resolve because moslty, the only way out is through. Take it from me; I was there and am now on the other side. It can be done. You're not alone.

FDA Adds Paxil SSRI to Category D Pregnancy Drug

Paxil aka Paroxetine HCL are SSRI (Selective Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitor) antidepressants marketed by GlaxoSmithKline. Paxil has been upgraded by the FDA to a category D pregnancy drug. Heart and lung birth defects are linked to Paxil. PPHN, or Perisistant Pulmonary Hypertension in the Newborn, ASD (Arterial Septal Defect) and VSD (Ventricular Septal Defect) are other birth defects that have been discovered far more frequently in infants born to mothers who were taking Paxil (Paroxetine HCL) during pregnancy.

This FDA upgrade is hugely significant as Category D pregnancy drugs are the most dangerous drugs to the developing fetus, next to Category X.  TheAmerican Pregnancy website lists the FDA definition of Category D pregnancy drugs in this way:

Positive evidence of Risk. Studies in humans and or post marketing data have demonstrated fetal risk. Potential benefits from the use of the drug may outweigh the potential risk however. For example, the drug may be acceptable if needed in a life-threatening situation or serious disease for which safer drugs cannot be used or are ineffective.'

Drugs like the tetracycline acne drugs are also category D pregnancy drugs. Paxil and Paroxetine are category D and not category X drugs (like thalidomide and Accutane) due to a myth that the life of the mother is in danger in some way if she stops taking Paxil in pregnancy. Women on antidepressants are often told that to stop taking their Paxil during pregnancy might harm baby, too. So mothers chose what seemed to be the lesser of two evils.

Another issue with the Category D pregnancy drug rating is that it assumes that no safer antidepressants or SSRIs are available. That's simple not true. There are safer antidepressants women can take. Whether an antidepressant or SSRI is necessary for the health of the mother is debatable. If the drug is a danger to the fetus in any way is information women need in order to be able to make informed decisions. For more on drugs, health and pregnancy, visit me at Health Help 4u

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