Health First: The Increasing Use of Anti Depressants

By Dave Fuller

Recently I did an interview with Greg Beattie head of the wellness center for UNBC. Greg has been in counselling for the past 20 years both in private practice and more recently at the university.

During our interview Greg brought up the point that as a councillor he has seen a dramatic increase since the early 2000’s in the number of people coming in with severe mental health issues. He also stated that many more people are turning to medication to alleviate their symptoms and deal with depression.

This brought me to wonder what the reasons are for this chronic use of antidepressants?

 As a health food store owner, we get people in all the time asking if there are alternatives to pharmaceutical medications for depressions. We hear stories on a weekly basis of people who have been prescribed antidepressants for such things as Menopause, Chronic Fatigue,  hormonal imbalances, adrenal exhaustion,  arthritis,  to name a few. Not that people with these illnesses do not get depressed, but it seems we are treating the symptoms not the cause.

Perhaps for many MD’s who are pressed for time its easier to prescribe something for the complaining rather than taking the time to solve the issue, which with some of these issues is easier said than done. Some literature suggests that antidepressants may do more harm than good with one of the side effects being suicide.

According to the World Health Organization, by the year 2020, depression is going to be the number two illness in the world , which makes me wonder if we are having such changes in society that is leading to this increase in illness. 

Poor nutrition has been shown to be linked to depression with  studies linking a lack of B vitamins . 

Our food has definitely not gotten any better in the last 50 years with our conventional farming methods nor has our rate of consumption of sugar, white flour, and processed foods.

Speaking of food how many people are eating in front of the TV where there is little or no real conversation with the other member in a home? Have we forgotten or lost the art of building relationships, cultivating friends, and growing healthy families? Perhaps its just that our society has become so individualistic that we focus so much on ourselves without a care for others that when something goes wrong for us… we break down and lose sight of the big picture. 

Mental health is more than what goes on in ones mind… we need to look after our bodies, minds and spirits, to maintain balance…..If we can get members of our society to realize this we wont see the use of antidepressants to such an extent that we do today, and we will be a healthier, happier people.

Dave Fuller is the Owner of Ave Maria Specialities at 1638 20th Avenue in Prince George

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