Prozac Nation Essay

Americans should be more aware of the false validity of the Chemical Imbalance Myth in our society today because of the immense usage of Antidepressants and the negative consequences they have on our physical and emotional health. The writers goal in writing this paper is not to say that mental illnesses are not real, rather, to point out some of the myths and traditions that are related to depression. We as a people tend to confuse normal emotions with clinical depression, in which they are prescribed antidepressants to make them feel better. The myth focused on in this paper is the “Chemical Imbalance” theory, which has been adopted by our society for years. The number of people in America that are currently on antidepressant medications is alarming and this issue must be addressed. A mistake that many well-meaning American’s make is taking pills when those pills are not necessary. These pills are rather damaging to an individual’s physical, emotional, and family health. When individuals take responsibility for their emotions and meet their core needs as a human, the normal emotion of sadness can be resolved.

During this time of grief, Della feels overwhelmed knowing her mom is not the person she used to be and now is like an “ancient little girl”, which causes her to engage in self-destructive behavior (114). She mentions that she was in “two car accidents” and “was arrested twice” during her senior year. However she said those incidents were not “her fault.” Along with her reckless driving, she says she, “couldn’t keep [her] hands on the wheel” (113). This act of carelessly driving reveals that in a way, she does not care much about herself in those accidents since she does not own up to her actions and simply states that she “couldn’t” hold on to the steering wheel and talks about the accidents and arrest so casually despite the fact that her life was at risk. Della also portrays how people harm themselves when trying to cope with problems by using drugs. On nights when, “the pain wasn’t so bad,” she would go downstairs and “smoke a joint” (115-116). Drugs such as marijuana work as stimulant and a depressant, which means they can enhance mood and put someone is a state of relaxation. For that reason, many people, including Della, use it to cope with their pain. After caring for her mother, “six terrifying hours every night,” she uses the drug to help her escape her problems (115).

Popular culture played an immense role during the 1990’s, which resulted in a drastic effect on the youth population. To begin, youth identity is something that, back then, and even today, continually pokes at the minds of adolescents. The often demeaning question, “Do I fit in”? is something the youth population took to heart at this time. It became common to make harmful decisions involving drugs and alcohol, as it was seen as a simple way to escape. In addition, the majority of people found it difficult to express themselves, therefore, making it nearly impossible to truly explore their identities. As expressed through Elizabeth Wurtzel's renown novel, Prozac Nation, or even through hit singles

As we have seen, treatment of schizophrenia with antipsychotic drugs can have impressive results in terms of decreasing active symptoms, although it does nothing to alleviate negative symptoms or to improve cognitive functioning. Unfortunately, this kind of treatment has the drawback of extremely serious and even fatal side-effects. Newer generation atypical antipsychotics offer more hope, as they can treat both active and negative symptoms, and also improve cognitive functioning. Moreover, they have fewer side-effects. However, treatment is complicated by the fact that results are unpredictable; and in addition the side-effects that they do have can be very serious, such as diabetes, which in itself is life-threatening. However, as the potential side-effects are known, the physician has leeway to choose a drug which is a good match for the patient’s clinical profile. Then, once the patient’s symptoms have been much alleviated with an appropriate newer generation atypical antipsychotic, the patient should be able to also benefit from a range of psychotherapeutic interventions. It is argued that this is the best treatment regime to choose, as it is likely to result in the greatest improvement in quality of life, coupled with the lowest risk of potentially devastating side-effects, or of death. This is likely to be better than utilizing cognitive behavioral therapy, the results of which are not reliably known – although research has certainly shown that it is less efficacious

Although a light read, her experience is heart-breaking as she is abused at home, institutionalized, and instead of being treated for her depression, doctor’s attempt to “feminize” her with eye shadow and lipstick. She is the type of advocate that makes noise in a silence because she tells a tale that would otherwise be unknown.

The cause of Clinical depression has long been a mystery to physicians and researchers. Many different theories have been proposed, but no conclusive evidence has been put forth. However, most of what we know about depression stems from the results of certain drugs which have been successful in treating the clinically depressed. These anti--depressants have led to the assumption that depression is most likely due to a chemical imbalance (of neurotransmitters) which somehow leads to the symptoms of depression. To try and write a paper on all the theories of depression would be endless, as would be a study on all the different types of

Depression is something serious that ruins the lives of many. In “The Depressed Person” by David Foster Wallace, he introduces the reader to a person who suffers from depression but also is narcissistic; someone who hungers for attention and makes and situation about them. There’s a difference in depression alone and depression that is accompanied by narcissism. Being sad and keeping to yourself is symptomatic of depression, but being sad accompanied by the need to blame others as well as having a grandiose view of one’s self would be more representative of depression with narcissism. This combination brings an unhealthy lifestyle and burdens ones around the sufferer. The Depressed Person may not reach out

Mark’s psychosocial and biological predisposing vulnerabilities ultimately lead to the increase likelihood of his substance abuse disorder. A disorder he wasn’t aware that he was facing because his intentions for the substance were to merely ease his stressors.

When we break our arm everyone runs forward to sign the cast but when we say we have depression everyone turns and runs the other way. This author shows how severe depression can form and issues that can be associated with severe depression. The way Elizabeth Wurtzel depicts depression and the substance abuse that can be related to severe depression is  impeccable in her non-fiction novel Prozac Nation. Depression affects more than 350 million people worldwide and is the most common of all the mental illnesses, it doesn’t have a cure but it is manageable with proper medication. Elizabeth Wurtzel has said “ I made ‘Prozac Nation’  a necessary reading because I write necessarily.  I tell my story because it is about everyone else: in 1993, people took pills to relieve the pain just like they do now, but it scared them; it doesn’t anymore, because talk is not cheap at all -- it is tender”i think this is very important  because it shows how hushed the talk about the facts on mental illness are. Although depression is shown to be an individual illness, the author effectively demonstrates the massive toll depression takes on family and friends. For example, depression takes a toll on your family and friends by having to watch you suffer and be in pain and not be able to do anything about it. Secondly, your family and friends are stuck watching as depression takes you

Cvetkovich’s book started with the introduction.In this introduction it starts off stating that her depression started when she was in graduate school when she realized that she was too busy being involved in the academic culture that she couldn't participate in a protest. She was so muller over her inability to participate that she fell and injured her ankle. She then stated “I couldn't feel physical pain because I was so busy feeling other kinds of pain… an amorphous sense of dread” (30) Years later she still finds herself “fixated on the immediate presents unable to think of other things or how to imagine it ending” (35) Cvetkovich focused on herself and how to get rid of her depression through therapy, religion, and antidepressants. She

At first it was the cure all people were looking for. Then it became the drug they were afraid to take. Somewhere between these two extremes lies the truth about the drug Flouxetine, better known as Prozac, the most widely prescribed drug on the globe. It is mainly prescribed to patients suffering from clinical depression. It was first brought to the market in 1988 by the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly co. Even though it was originally prescribed for depression, it has been prescribed for everything from eating disorders to insomnia. It was first considered the wonder drug of the new decade because of the way it helped depression patients when no other anti-depressant could

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are currently one of the most controversial groups of medicines, with fluoxetine, more commonly known by its brand name Prozac, at the head of the controversy. Opponents of the use of SSRI medications as a successful and safe method for treating depression and related disorders assert that the actions of the drug are an unnatural and a dangerous form of tampering with our neurochemistry. Not only are these medications incredibly safe in almost all cases, they are actually an unnatural method of modifying an already disordered, natural sequence of chemicals in the brain, and therefore are not a form of tampering, but are a method for fixing

When children are first conceived, society holds the expectation that each parent be in an average mental state so as to care for the infant, as they have many needs and require lots of care. Further, in a perfect world, this mental homeostasis would be maintained as the infant grows into childhood and continues into adolescence in order to best carry out their parental responsibilities. A parent has the duty to remain stable mentally and physically in order to sustain and enrich another life. However, this is most certainly not the case for every family. Many children grow up with one or more parents who at some point suffer from mental illness. This causes implications on the child’s development. These implications can include mental, physical, and social problems. This raises the question: will these children behave differently in a social setting than their peers? How might their home-life affect their conformity?

Nature refers to “traits, abilities, and capacities that are inherited from one’s parents”. For instance, having blue or brown eyes, blonde or dark brown hair, and even athletic performance. In human development, nature is actively in control of the growth of an individual from the moment the embryo becomes a fetus continuing until adulthood. During a process known as maturation, genes and tendencies not evident upon birth develop gradually. Among the many physical and behavioral changes during this process, the most apparent are facial hair in boys and breast development in girls. In order for maturation to take place, a sustainable environment, proper nutrition, and supportive care from others is essential. In addition, children’s temperament, which refers to their distinctive ways of reacting to emotional events, novel stimuli, and their own impulses is partially affected by their own genetic makeup. Therefore, whether one is an introvert or an extrovert has some genetic say. On the other hand, mental health conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression have been proven to influence nature. According to statistical records, bipolar disorder is four to six times more likely to develop when there is a family history of the condition. Moreover, alcohol addiction has been shown in studies that it can reoccur in families and that certain genes may have an impact over the way alcohol tastes and the way it affects the

James was referred to the counselling service for chronic low mood in terms of demonstrating depressed mood, worthless and hopeless feeling, and marked diminished interests or pleasure in university activities and social relationship activities. Based on his background information, it seems that James’ early life experiences and his developed core beliefs of self, world and future have huge impacts on his chronic low mood symptoms.