There is strong evidence that long term use of many psychiatric medications actually increases the severity, disabling effects, and recurrence rates of the conditions they purport to treat. I've written about this before (http://raybepko.blogspot.com/2011/01/epidemic-or-marketing.html) in discussing Robert Whitaker's landmark work, Anatomy of An Epidemic. Below is a link to a new study that indicates taking antidepressants actually may lead to rather than prevent chronic depression. They do so by interfering with the brain's natural regulatory mechanisms for managing neurotransmitters, actually creating the "chemical imbalance" they are supposed to treat. It suggests that the reason people experience an increase in depressive symptoms when they stop antidepressants is not because "the depression is coming back" but because the medication has altered the brain's ability to regulate itself. This may also help in understanding why depression has become a much more chronic condition than it was prior to the Age of Prozac.
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