Prozac debate: a personal view
Although the outcome is actually nothing new, a new study has concluded that Prozac is next to useless for those suffering with depression.
I’ve suffered from depression over the past few years and, on one occasion, I was prescribed Prozac.
Ironically enough, I didn’t realise that’s what I was taking, because the doctor who wrote the prescription used the non-brand name for the drug, fluoxetine.
I stayed on it around a year before deciding that my need for it was at an end.
Did it work? Well, that’s tough to say. Certainly my symptoms slowly receded and my mood lifted, but whether that was down to the drug or various other factors is impossible to ascertain.
What I found more interesting, and scary, was a recent visit to a new doctor.
I went to talk to him about possible ways to treat SAD and wondered what his views were.
I suggested St John’s Wort to him and his surprising riposte was something along the lines of: ‘Why not just take Prozac?’
Now this shocked me. My use of anti-depressants has tended to be as a last resort, assuming them to be of some benefit. I hate the fact that I am having to use a chemical to treat something, but accept that depression can often be a chemical imbalance that needs to be righted.
SAD, on the other hand, is seasonal and lasts a mere 3-4 months usually. The thought of popping Prozac as a way of stopping that appals me far more.
The fact that my (young and fairly clued up) doctor likened taking St John’s Wort, a naturally-occurring treatment, to Prozac makes me realise how willy-nilly the drug has been handed out.
Perhaps this new report will make my doctor and many others think twice before prescribing a seemingly useless, yet addictive drug.
So the Oscars are over for another year and the gongs have been handed out. 
