I agree they are a net positive and a god send for many. I will say though, I think any time a med that could be a life long treatment is considered - absent a compelling emergency or other set of circumstances - the alternatives should be considered first.
Look RFK Jr is a dangerous imbecile. Who the fuck drinks methyl blue in their water? Holy fuck.
however, what I find infuriating about SSRIs is the speed at which doctors pull out a pill to try and solve problems without looking first to natural solutions.
a bit of background - my mom was on SSRIs and a related drug adapted for sleeping. She started taking them under drastic circumstances, divorce, 3 kids under 15 years old, poor, back in college, and maybe she really needed them. 35 years later and two attempts to wean off of Prozac and the sleeping med and she can’t. She got down to the lowest dose before the withdraw symptoms kicked her fucking ass. She’s going to take an unneeded low dose of Prozac and her other med for sleep for the rest of her life. She’s come to terms with it but she wanted off and still really does.
If you are suffering from mental health issues imo alcohol consumption, diet (including supplementation), exercise, sleep, relationships, purpose and productivity, sunlight and interaction with nature should all be looked at closely before jumping to a pharma solution created in the what 1950s?
heck I think GLP-1s may be a better first line treatment for many. Weight and the cascade of effects from it all point to mental health problems especially as we age.
and as I tell my boys, you cannot escape your own humanity, the rules for a satisfied mind are well known, (1) eat well, (2) play a sport and exercise your body for life, (3) sleep well, (4) avoid too much alcohol, (5) love well, (6) work well, (7) and play (outdoors) well. And when you do those things attitudes like gratitude and staying off social media and not doom scrolling the news will all follow.
Maybe an SSRI is needed to do those 7 things but maybe the lack of one or more of those 7 things is the reason why there is suffering.
the failure of digging deep and asking ourselves to curate a well lived life with the rapid prescription of long term treatments is what is so concerning to me.
i don’t know the percentages but some significant percentage of people need SSRIs and I’m sure the number of people who are taking SSRIs well exceeds that percentage that truly need them.