Kaleb Douglas

Mr. Wolfe

English 10 Period 2

May 11th 2018

Mental Depression

There is a lot of controversy surrounding antidepressants and their use on children. Some

say that it hurts the child other than help them. Scientists have been researching and testing

antidepressants heavily as recently suicide rates have gone up since social media has been

playing a huge part in society recently. It is a huge subject that affects the world today and

whether or not antidepressant drugs should be prescribed to children suffering from depression.

Most parents are hesitant to give their child antidepressants as most people believe that it

increases suicidal thoughts. But antidepressants have been proven to be different on almost every

single person. It could make them worse or even better. Now that the epidemic known as social

media has gone around over the years, depression has spiked up and the rates of suicide are

going up even more. There are two sides to this coin and these are it. There are people that

support and say that antidepressants can improve the child's quality of life. Then the other side

states that the use of such drugs can lead to suicidal thoughts. A couple reasons for the people

that say it improves the quality of life is that the antidepressants have been proven to work and

that less antidepressants increase suicide rates. For the opposite side of the coin they say that

there is other alternatives and that it increases suicidal thoughts.

Firstly, it has been proven that antidepressants work in most people. Everyone around the

world that has who has taken antidepressants has experienced something different. Some may
have had a bad experience and others may have had a good experience. This means that there is a

lot of opinions and experiences to work off of and give plenty of personal experiences from

different types of people. This increases the chance of improving antidepressants and how they

affect certain types of people. I personally have had a good experience with them. When I was in

8th grade I was depressed mainly because of how I was treated, but I won’t get into it. But did it

solve all my problems. No it did not. Many other people have had worse experiences with the

drug as sometimes it makes no difference. But, another source that explains this comes from the

article writer Feyer, Felice. They go on to explain that “... suicide attempts over 6 years have

gone up…” and so has “ a decline of antidepressants” ( Feyer 2). This is self-explanatory, but the

article is basically stating that since less and less people are taking antidepressants more people

are trying to kill themselves. On this side of the coin it tells people that more and more people

are dying. That is because less people are taking antidepressants. This leads into the next topic

that will be discussed.

Lastly, for the supporting view they go into how the less antidepressants, the more

suicide rates increase. People who take antidepressants have noticed a difference in this

especially me but that isn’t who this about. Most of the people around have shown a significant

change that has wither helped or made things worse. In a study “11.4 percent of kids experienced

a major depressive episode in previous years” (Albernaz 2). As stated before the amount of

antidepressants being used have been lowered and since that had happened, the amount of

suicides had increased. That also means, supported by this evidence that it also means that more

children are depressed. More than ever before recorded in history. There are also doctors that

experiment with the drug to see what they can do to improve it. In a study “...rate of suicide
thinking decreased among all the groups” (Antidepressant Medications for Children and

Adolescents 18) the ones that were tested on of course. This has begun to show some people that

antidepressants work for people but different type of people have to take different types of

antidepressants. This gives some people some hope to become better. Next, the different point of

view shall be explained.

Firstly, people speak about how there are other alternatives to antidepressants. People and

scientists have been at the edge of their seats trying to find out other ways to help people with

depression and how to prevent it. Recently, scientists have said that “... teens need to be getting

moderate to vigorous physical activity” (McGinn 8). Saying that studies have shown that it

decreases suicide and most teens that do this everyday. This is a really healthy alternative but

that does not mean there are some flaws in it like there are in antidepressants. The more people

that experimented with this have told a lot of people different things. Most have said that

“physical activity lowers rates of depression” (McGinn 2). This proves that it works for most

people, and this has also been backed up by scientists that study this form of treatment for

depression. This then leads onto the next subject.

Lastly, antidepressants increase suicidal thoughts. This evidence has been reviewed by

many scientists. Some researchers have gone deep into the research of antidepressants. A

scientist by the name of Moragne, Wendy who is an ebook author who said,”...antidepressants

increase suicidal thoughts” (21). With this sort of evidence it tells people it increases suicidal

thoughts, therefore making people stray away from the drug. Which could be a good or bad thing

who knows. Then later the American government interfered with the antidepressant drug. They

“put a warning label” on the antidepressants saying “it may increase suicidal thoughts” (Moragne
21). This tells people that it may or may not meaning it could help someone or make them worse.

Since the government did this it is less likely that someone will prescribe or ask for

antidepressants as they believe that the drug is dangerous to the person, or your own safety.

In conclusion, mental depression is a big problem especially with antidepressants and

whether they are harmful or helpful. Both points have their faults but that doesn’t mean a certain

side is correct compared to the other. I believe the first point for the use of antidepressants was

better as the sources made sense. There are also more sources to choose from and more

supporting evidence. Readers should reconsider what and how depression affects the world

today.
 Work Cited

Albernaz, Ami. "Report: Depressive Episodes on Rise among Teens, Many Not being.."

Boston Globe​, 03 Nov, 2015, pp. G.2​. SIRS Issues Researcher​, ​https://sks.sirs.com​.

Aubusson, Kate. "Drugs Too often a First-Line Treatment."​ Sydney Morning Herald​, 03 Jul,

2017, pp. 6​. SIRS Issues Researcher​,​https://sks.sirs.com​.

Freyer, Felice J. "Study Links Shunning of Drug, Rise in Suicide Tries."​ Boston Globe​, 19 Jun,

2014, pp. A.1​. SIRS Issues Researcher​,​https://sks.sirs.com​.

McGinn, Dave. "For Children, Exercise may Help Stave Off Depression."​ Globe and Mail​, 03

Feb, 2017, pp. L.5​. SIRS Issues Researcher​,​https://sks.sirs.com​.

Moragne, Wendy. ​Depression​. Twenty-First Century Books, 2011. USA Today Health Reports.

Diseases and Disorders. EBSCO​host​,

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