Question

Does our society too quickly label psychological health problems and prescribe too many drugs for these conditions? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Yes, our society labels psychological problems, without taking a deeper look. While diagnosing a psychological problem, it is very important to take into consideration all the symptoms, to identify the underlying cause. Not doing so may lead to incorrect diagnosis, leading to incorrect treatment.

A primary reason for such behavior, is lack of knowledge. A psychological problem may have symptoms that may seem to common to be sure of a particular illness, but all aspects need to be taken into consideration for correct diagnosis.

Another problem, that is affecting the health of many patients, is the overdose of drugs. Over-prescription of drugs often does more harm than good. Some of the examples of side-effects are physical and include fatigue, blurred vision, gastric disorders, headaches, dizziness, sexual dysfunction, risk of cardiac disorders, and weight gain. There have been many cases where patients have been over dosed with drugs.

One of them is a study published in Feb 2018 by Human Rights Watch finds that about 179,000 nursing home residents are being given antipsychotic drugs, even though they don't have schizophrenia or other serious mental illnesses that those drugs are designed to treat.