Warning: Use of undefined constant referer - assumed 'referer' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 102

Warning: Use of undefined constant host - assumed 'host' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 105

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 106

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 109
Prozac: Harmful Or Helpful? - Papers

Prozac: Harmful Or Helpful?


Many people suffer from depression at some point in their lives. Among women in western countries, major depression is by far the most common illness (Shorter 43). Treatment for depression varies among health care providers, but the prescription of antidepressants seems to be the most common remedy. Prozac and other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are being used to treat depression, panic disorder, bulimia, obsessive-compulsive behavior, and many other illnesses. Prozac has become the most common and best-selling antidepressant in the United States. It has been prescribed for over twenty-one million people (Packard 18). Nonetheless, many of these people are unnecessarily ...

Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers

serious adverse reactions reported to the FDA than any other drug in America” (qtd. in Freundlich 2).
Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical Company created Prozac in 1974, but it wasn’t approved by the FDA until 1987. The first of the SSRIs, Prozac inhibits or blocks the recapture of the neurotransmitter serotonin by nerve cells (“Prozac” 2). This allows the serotonin to remain in the brain for a longer period of time creating a lasting euphoric state. Serotonin plays a complex part in the functioning of the body and brain. Researchers and doctors are just starting to understand its role. “So far, the tools used to manipulate serotonin in the human brain are more like pharmacological machetes than they are like scalpels--crudely effective but capable of doing plenty of collateral damage” (Lemonick 3).
Prozac is supposed to help improve a person’s mood by increasing the level of serotonin present in the brain. However, problems can occur if receptors in the brain stem and spinal cord are ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.


Already a member? Login

for serotonin syndrome is to cease taking the offending medication or medications and wait for the symptoms to resolve. If the offending medication is discontinued, the condition will frequently resolve on its own within twenty-four hours (“What is Serotonin Syndrome?” 1-2).
Many victims of the over-prescription of Prozac are children. In 1997, at least 580,000 children were being prescribed Prozac, even though safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients had not, and still has not, been established (Huffington, “U.S. Attention” 1). As with most antidepressant prescriptions, doctors are prescribing Prozac for children without any psychiatric evaluation. Yet, in a Prozac ad, ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library.
Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports,
and research papers in 2 minutes or less.


CITE THIS PAGE:

Prozac: Harmful Or Helpful?. (2005, January 23). Retrieved March 28, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Prozac-Harmful-Or-Helpful/21042
"Prozac: Harmful Or Helpful?." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 23 Jan. 2005. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Prozac-Harmful-Or-Helpful/21042>
"Prozac: Harmful Or Helpful?." Essayworld.com. January 23, 2005. Accessed March 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Prozac-Harmful-Or-Helpful/21042.
"Prozac: Harmful Or Helpful?." Essayworld.com. January 23, 2005. Accessed March 28, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Prozac-Harmful-Or-Helpful/21042.
JOIN NOW
Join today and get instant access to this and 50,000+ other essays


PAPER DETAILS
Added: 1/23/2005 07:17:38 AM
Category: Health & Medicine
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 1762
Pages: 7

Save | Report

SHARE THIS PAPER

SAVED ESSAYS
Save and find your favorite essays easier

SIMILAR ESSAYS
» Critical Thinking-Logical Proo
» Midsummer Nights Dream
» General Prologue: Human Dishone...
» That's So Gay
» Native Residential Schools: Hi...
» Entitlement
» Rural Healthcare
» An Analysis Of Catch 22 By Jose...
» To Live
» Irrigating Crops With Seawater
Copyright | Cancel | Contact Us

Copyright © 2024 Essayworld. All rights reserved