Prozac Nation?

A significant number of Americans believe in the power of psychiatric medications but far fewer would take them to help deal with their problems, according to a recent report released by IU's Consortium for Mental Health Services Research.\nThe report, titled "Public Views of Medications in Light of Health and Health Care," shows that two-thirds of Americans see psychiatric medications as effective and useful, but only 37.1 percent would take them for any mental illness or condition.\nJack Martin, an IU sociology professor and lead author of the report, said much of the concern stems from a public stigma to mental illness, not fears of the medications themselves.\n"They do overwhelmingly believe that psychiatric medications work, but at the same time (they are) very reluctant to use them themselves," he said. "We have these medications that can help (people) deal with these problems but they're not taking them ... because of the stigmas we associate with the use of them." \nSpecifically, he said society relates mental illness to a lack of control, a character flaw or a general failure on the part of those affected. \n"People often feel they're perceived as being failures in life and basically are blamed for having these problems," he said.\nThe reluctance to take medicine to address illnesses, though, could prolong mental health issues such as depression or anxiety and affect other aspects like economic productivity and workplace absenteeism, \nMartin said. \n"If they're not receiving the treatment, then they're not dealing with the causes," he said. "They're not dealing with the symptoms that are causing them difficulty," he said. \nThe consortium's report is based on face-to-face surveys conducted with nearly 1,400 people. The surveys were administered in 1998 by the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center.\nAmong its other key findings is a belief among 47 percent of respondents that medication should be discontinued after symptoms improve. In addition, six out of 10 people reported a skepticism of doctors in general, although seven out of 10 said they trusted their own doctor. \nMartin said those findings are significant and may help determine if people take medications and follow the mental health advice of their physicians. \n"For those people that do have a relationship with a physician who they feel good about, they're going to be more willing to take that physician's recommendations and take those medications even if there is that stigma associated with it," he said. \nThe recent IU study is the second in a series on mental health and its perception among Americans. Current research focuses on the perception of children with mental illnesses, and the first study, released in 1996, found that two-thirds of Americans said they would not want to work with someone with a mental illness.\nBut experts say such fears of mental illness, combined with the stigma attached to medications, are unhealthy and \nunrealistic.\n"When people think in terms of psychological problems there remains the residual notion that is equivalent to some kind of flaw in their character, it's a defect, and they feel a little leery about it in other people," said Charles Goodstein, a psychoanalyst and clinical professor of psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine, who reviewed the IU report. "All people, if they were really honest with themselves, would recognize they have experienced these findings at some level, at some point in their life." \nThe goal, Dr. Goodstein said, is for people to recognize problems and seek appropriate treatment. \n"Large numbers of people in this country do seek out some form of mental health professional care," he said. "In 2006 America, in contrast to say 1906 America, we don't just want to survive economically ... we want to get the most out of life that we can"