The growth of depression
The consumption of antidepressants increases every year in Belgium. In 1996, there were some 390,000 patients on antidepressants; there were around 860,000 at the end of 2006, according to a statistical study by the Belgian Pharmaceutical Association (APB). The study notes the success of new generation antidepressants. It is estimated that every month 1,700 additional patients use drugs from this group. The majority of patients on antidepressants do not suffer from an acute form of depression, one which presents a risk of suicide, notes Professor Jean-Marie Maloteaux, of the Saint-Luc university clinics. It is not in fact psychiatrists who prescribe the most antidepressants, but general practitioners. A significant number of consultations with the family doctor concern mood or behavioral disorders that affect the quality of life. These people must be helped, admits Professor Maloteaux, and the prescription of medication can be part of the treatment, but the doctor should give more time to his patients who suffer from psychological disorders. He regrets that doctors today no longer have enough time to listen to their patients, even though it is of paramount importance. In addition, depression is still subject to a social taboo and is often not considered a real illness, the doctor still deplores (Belga, 05/10/2007).
A more than doubling of antidepressant consumption in ten years…
This is a universal development, noted by the work published by The International Scope Review in 2003-2004, and directly associated with the growth of contemporary unhappiness. Depression in all its forms has become such a public health problem that it is the subject of explicit government policies in various countries, such as Great Britain and Australia.
Except that depression or unhappiness are not the responsibility of doctors, who are not selected or trained for this, but of psychotherapists, personal development specialists and social workers. The use of medicinal therapies can be useful, but can also represent an escape from problems, the use of a “mechanical” remedy can represent a simplifying solution to the ills of social life. And it is also not a question of “time” to listen to patients, but of qualification and expertise in this type of intervention. It is true, however, that depression is still stigmatized, but it is not an “illness” in the classic sense of the term.
Finally, when we say that depression and unhappiness are the responsibility of psychotherapists, personal development specialists and social workers, we are only talking about immediate, often effective, remedies for a contemporary illness. The real cause of this evil lies in the crumbling of social bonds and social cohesion, and the only global and substantive solution that can exist is in strengthening the latter.
