World of Psychology

It’s no secret that the amount of prescriptions filled for psychotropic medication has been increasing at a rapid pace. However, most people don’t really just how many people are taking these drugs and how much money is generated by their sale. The PsychCentral Newsroom had a great report on this topic, here is the thumbnail sketch:

“…spending on prescription drugs to treat depression, anxiety, pain, schizophrenia and other conditions climbed from $7.9 billion in 1997 to $20 billion in 2004.”

“During the same time period, overall prescriptions for psychotherapeutic drugs increased from 141.9 million to 244.3 million; the number of people prescribed at least one such drug rose from 21 million to 32.6 million; and the average price per purchase increased from $55.80 to $82.00.”

We are certainly in an era that supports using these types of medications, which are obviously effective at reducing some psychological syptoms for people. However, I often worry that people who are depressed, anxious, struggle with relationships, or can’t pay attention among many other thing that only take these drugs as a remedy will never understand the true core problems that create these symptoms, setting them up for a lifetime of relapse and long stints on medication.


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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 26 Apr 2007
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.

APA Reference
Meek, W. (2007). Psychological Medication Use Increase. Psych Central. Retrieved on May 25, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2007/04/26/psychological-medication-use-increase/

 

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