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help to you— unlike cocaine or amphetamine, they do not induce euphoria, and they are not
addictive.

If You're Persistently Depressed, Get Treatment

Another issue is that as people grow older, there tends to be undertreatment of depression because
many patients and physicians believe that depression is a normal reaction to the aging process. The
argument against this belief is simple: if depression were indeed a normal part of the aging process,
all the retirees in Florida and Arizona would be depressed and the beaches and golf courses would be
empty year-round.

Antidepressant Medications

For depression of moderate to severe intensity (usually major depression), treatment with an
antidepressant medication is required. The most widely prescribed antidepressant medications are the
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs: fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine
(Paxil), and citalopram (Celexa), which work by increasing the availability of serotonin, a chemical
neurotransmitter that seems to be deficient in the brain in many depressed patients.

The Truth about the Prozac Controversy

I am still astonished by how the media hype about Prozac has succeeded in misinforming depressed
patients. The pro-Prozac crowd believes that it is a miracle drug. In reality, there is no basis for this
notion. Scores of studies have shown that Prozac is as effective as, but not superior to, other
antidepressant medications. The opposite myth, propagated by the anti-Prozac crowd, is that it is a
highly dangerous and toxic drug. Nothing could be further from the truth. After the hue and cry
about the possibility that Prozac may increase suicidal or homicidal behavior, the FDA carefully
reviewed the available information from thousands of patients on this medication and concluded that
the risk of either suicide or homicide was no greater with Prozac than with older antidepressants. The