Katharine Sharpe, author of “Coming of Age on Zoloft,” writes for the Wall Street Journal about the particular problems of young people learning about their identities while being told that their troubles are biologically-based. The article includes a videotaped interview.
In this article Katherine Sharpe describes antidepressants as pills that definitely work and have no side-effects. Looking for a pill to solve our problems is very much “In” in this day and age when people keep rushing around, wantig it all “NOW!” the easy way, thinking that happiness is an entitlement. The younger generations are missing out when it comes to character building, resilience, patience etc. Parents are a lot to blame, they don’t have time for their kids, easier to give them a pill. Their job comes first, career is more important. We want things and because we can’t always get what we want, we get depressed and reach for the pill. What happened to self-discipline, persevierance?Students often think that they are immortal, they carry on day and night and are surprised afterwards that they break-down, get panic attacks or sink into depression: nobody has told them that the body will only take so much. They need pills to get better exam results and to improve their concentration etc.etc.
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I think she’s also commenting on the negative message that the “chemical imbalance” talk has on kids: it says “your emotions are meaningless. You’re a bunch of chemical reactions, and nothing you say or do can impact those reactions. You don’t control your emotions and they are unrelated to your life.” I suppose the other message is that emotions are annoyances that prevent us from doing what we’re supposed to do. In reality, emotions are survival mechanisms that we all need in order to navigate our world. In many ways, emotions are what drive us to survive and thrive in the world. Trying to delete those that are inconvenient sends kids a very odd message, indeed.
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