I'm not saying the disagreement is with your percentages of who's prescribing I'm saying that the drugs aren't the root cause.
I also HIGHLY doubt, and I've had conversations with people that deal with it, that 'people' like this get there because they're having a rough time in puberty or a little depressed and a GP gives them an anti depressant.
It's not as easy to abuse as you make it sound. You get a months supply every month, the end. If you blow through that in a week they don't just refill it for you. Most insurance companies won't allow it and the heavy shit like Xanax is controlled.
I've had conversations with mental health folks about all this. Their consensus is the nutters like this was/were already have bigger issues going on.
Not saying poor management of meds is a good thing, certainly it's not, and we shouldn't be medicating anybody under 18 without a damn good reason and closely following it.
Regardless, it ain't the drugs. It's society, the Internet is a huge issue, absentee parents, broken homes, zero responsibility for anything in society all contributes to this shit as does trying to shelter kids from conflict, failure and disappointment.
It's all part of life and if you don't learn to cope because you're coddled your whole life you reach adulthood where people don't care about your feels... and then what? This shit, that's what.
That goes hand in hand with GP scribing drugs.
by numbers every person a GP medicated gets 1 + scrips. Only half of the people a shrink speak with get medicated.
So walking into a GP guaranteed you a scrip and then some.
the numbers become more obvious if a shrink scribes 2 for a patient (which is common). You’ll get the daily pill like Lex and then Xanax for those tough moments or events.
We are now back to;
It’s a guarantee, some would say drug seeking behavior to get meds from a GP
And 25% (most likely less) get a scrip from mental health professional.
just the math:
Out of 100 people 75 more people are getting mood-altering drugs because GP are giving them out.
Add in the people who truly need help, (not just a pussy who won’t man up) are going to a shrink and most of them walk out with just a next appointment/no scrip.
I’m not saying the US isn’t over medicated and lack of consequences is a HUGE factor, but we aren’t helping ourselves in this case.
Several of these drugs may cause suicidal thoughts if you stop cold turkey. If you go to GP and get Zoloft for instance which can enable patients to leave the house rather than be to anxious to open the door.
That usually starts to really work 4-6 weeks.
You get a 90 day supply (3 months is almost always the max).
Day 60 you feel great and think your cured so you stop taking them….off the wagon you go.
If you had your weekly appointment with a shrink they see this behavior and help you along. A GP waits for next years check up.
Blaming the drug is like blaming the firearm for someone getting shot.
edit...messed up wording from Iphone "help"