Malpass, Alice, Alison Shaw, Debbie Sharp, Fiona Walter, Gene Feder, Matthew Ridd, and David Kessler. "“Medication Career” or “Moral Career”? The Two Sides of Managing antidepressants: A Meta-ethnography of Patients' Experience of Antidepressants." Social Science & Medicine 68.1 (2009): 154-68. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.
This article concerns itself with the treatment of depression and anxiety in the UK and notes that the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, or NICE, advises that all patients struggling with mild to severe depression be put on antidepressants. However, while many patients accept prescription, one in three do not complete treatment for a variety of reasons. These reasons include conflicting patient beliefs about the severity of their illnesses and the association of not believing that they truly need medication, a hesitation to to become dependent, and fear of addiction. In addition, the authors argue that the most important factor of these is that those suffering from depression and anxiety often also suffer from impaired judgement and holes in decision-making processes. In this sense, the sole fact of being diagnosed with depression or anxiety inhibits a person's ability to make fair judgement on their needs to follow through with medication.
In reading this article, I chose to view the authors' arguments in terms of how they may play out in a collegiate, higher-education environment, and I find that this article accurately represents the stigma of depression with college students. I was reminded of my own experience with depression, in which I was given a choice to be put on medication or to abstain, and my own reasoning for choosing to refrain that included believing my issues could be equated to factors other than depression, fear of dependency and addiction, etc. In this thought process, I've realized that the article does exceptionally well in answering my research question, and I thoroughly agree with the points made throughout. This source has also further shaped my thinking around the many reasons patients may choose to refrain from using medication, as well as how this issue may synthesize with source 3, my source that shed light on my negatives of using antidepressants. Source 3 described issues of headaches, nausea, increased thoughts of suicide, and other physical abnormalities, and in relation to this source, I can see why, in addition to a misunderstanding, many of those suffering from depression and anxiety maybe afraid to try any form of medication at all. With very little light shed on the many positives of taking medication, it's very fair to understand why anti-depressants are a foggy and often scary issue.
As stated in paragraph 2, I would spend the most time synthesizing this source with source 3, my source that indicated some negatives of using anti-depressants, especially when not needing them. Because depression is a mental illness with often difficult to interpret symptoms, it's challenging to gauge just how effective antidepressants may be; students and the general public alike may suffer for years with this mental illness without realizing why, and because of the lack of clarity surrounding the illness and the antidepressants, many people will remain uncertain about using them. This source responds to source 3 with the argument that because we are able to see so many negative side effects of antidepressants, combined with our own predetermined notions, antidepressants are not as used as often as they probably should be on college campuses.
A At this point in my research, I feel very thoroughly educated about the many negatives that lead to students and non-students choosing to refrain from using medication. However, I still lack a lot of research describing the many positives antidepressants have, and why those who suffer choose to use them. I need to continue asking what those positives are, why people who use them are happy using them, and just what kind of order this medication creates in those with depression. What exactly do antidepressants do? In asking these questions, I will be able to begin my way to making a formal argument for or against the use of antidepressants on college campuses.
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