Is medication the answer to alleviating sufferers from the pain of depression?
As a psychologist, people often ask me whether medication should be used solely to treat depression, as a support whilst in therapy or whether it is a ‘band aid’ solution to a longer-term problem? Like any medication, it is aimed at relieving symptoms – there is evidence that it lifts mood and helps chronically depressed individuals make fundamental shifts in everyday functioning, particularly where their depression is so acute that they may not be able to leave the house or even get out of bed.
Psychologists, and clients themselves, also know that it is important to examine the causes of depression – since de-pression is a reaction to life’s events, external circumstances or even self-doubt and inability to live the life one wants. Medicating without assisting an individual in identifying the source of their pain would seem to be irresponsible or even inhumane.
Recent debate in Australia exists between doctors and pharmacists over who should be allowed to own and operate chemists. The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has called on the federal government to relax laws so doctors could own pharmacies in, or next to, their general practice. The Pharmacy Guild of Australia says the allowing this would lead to doctors having a conflict of interest. They’d be prescribing drugs and profiting from their sale.
Whatever one’s political beliefs about this, we must not forget the real victims in such a debate. When profit and professional rivalry potentially makes those with power to prescribe anti-depressive medication less objective and impartial in their decisions, then the sufferer of depression stands to lose out. A professional who has to decide between prescribing drugs or referring a person for counseling, would have to be a saint if prescribing counseling alone (if considered optimum) which resulted in them losing income.
So is medication the answer to treating depression? To answer the question, I believe it is important to ensure that a context is created in which the doctor chooses what is best for the patient – not how it impacts on their financial bottom line.