The Role of Antidepressants in Increasing the Number of Mentally Ill Patients

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Proposal Argument

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The number of cases involving mental illness of patients has increased across the globe. Many
of these mental illnesses and disorders are not recognized and treated appropriately which
resulted in creating challenges for the patients and their family and friends (Cattaneo and Riva
169-174). The mentally challenged people find it difficult to live a normal life in society, and
they are more likely to face challenges such as lack of confidence, anxiety, depression, and
others. It becomes difficult for people who suffered from these disorders to complete their day
to day tasks. The growing number of mentally ill people has raised many questions regarding
the reasons which resulted in causing mental illnesses. The lifestyle of people is a major
contributing factor which resulted in increasing the number of mentally ill patients. One of the
key issues which are increasing mental disorders is the consumption of antidepressants. The
consumption of antidepressants has become a part of many people’s lives which is a
contributing factor to the growing number of mental disorders in people (Vancampfort et al.
343-352). Daily or excessive use of antidepressants causes serious health-related issue in which
mental disorder is included. The thesis will argue that the consumer of antidepressants is a
major reason which has increased the number of mentally ill patients globally and this issue can
be resolved by making changes in people’s lifestyle.
Every antidepressant has a potential negative impact on a person who is consuming the drug
which can have various side effects and mental disorders are one of those side effects. The
number of mental patients includes globally. In 2016, more than 1.1 billion people were facing a
mental or substance use disorder. In the United States, there are more than 44 million adults
who have a mental health condition (MHA). These numbers show that the issue of mental
illness has increased which is affecting a large number of people all around the world. The
consumption of antidepressants is a key reason for the increase in these numbers due to its
side effects such as decreased alertness, suicidal feelings, sexual problems, hypomania,
serotonin syndrome and others. Most of these side effects are directly linked with the mental
health of the person who is taking antidepressant (Lewer et al. 221-226). It shows that the use
of antidepressant resulted in increasing side effects of people which makes them more prone to
mental illnesses than compared to others. People who use antidepressant drugs on a daily basis

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are more likely to see these side effects which resulted in increasing their chances of suffering
from a mental disorder.
The popularity of the internet has increased depression among people, and it forces them to
use antidepressant to relieve their pain which makes them addicted to them. According to the
World Health Organization, depression is a common illness across the globe, and more than 300
million people are affected by this illness. From this 300 million people, 16.2 million adults are
from the United States (Morin). It shows that the rate of depression has increased significantly
in the past few decades. The popularity of the internet, particularly social media sites, plays a
crucial role in this growth. Excessive use of social media sites leads to depression in adults as
well as children. Recent studies have found that the people who spend most of their time on
social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram are shown to have substantially higher rate
of reported depression from 13 to 66 percent (Miller). The popularity of smartphones and other
wearable devices has made it easier for people to always stay connected to social media sites
which increase the threat of depression as well. People think more about their online image
than their real image which makes it difficult for them to live normally; the use of
antidepressants assist them in relieving this stress which also makes them addicted
(Vancampfort et al. 343-352).
Many studies argue that lack of nutrition diet and unhealthy lifestyle is a major reason of
increasing number of mental patients because they are unable to cope up with the stress which
they face at work and home. Cattaneo and Riva (169-174) provided that there are more people
who live unhealthy lives rather than those who take antidepressants which makes it a bigger
reason for increasing number of mental patients. However, antidepressants are highly addictive
drugs, and they make it easier for people with mood disorders to stay relaxed. People use
antidepressants in order to treat depression and other mood disorders; it is easier for them to
get a prescription for antidepressant through a doctor’s approval (Vancampfort et al. 343-352).
The side effects of antidepressants are much higher which means that people who take them
are more likely to suffer a mental disorder than compared to those who live an unhealthy life.
The popularity of this drug has made it easily available on a global stage. They work life