In the late 80s and 90s, new SSRIs began to sell widely and rapidly
During the 70s, psychiatric drugs became much less risky and were beginning to be offered to the wider temporarily distressed public. Next came the inexorable march of the SSRI antidepressants in the late 1980s and early 1990s—a classic marketing success story. Prozac became a knockout best seller, even spawning a best-selling book by a psychiatrist touting its value not only as an antidepressant but also as a cosmetic drug that could make you better than well. Every year or two thereafter, a new SSRI would appear—Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa—and each would also in turn become a runaway best seller. The marketing of these easy-to-use drugs was closely tied to the marketing of what were (according to the drug companies) easy-to-make psychiatric diagnoses.
Soon the SSRIs were also prescribed for panic disorder, generalized anxiety, social phobia, OCD, PTSD, eating disorders, premature ejaculation, and compulsive gambling, and as a general pick-me-up. Sure, there were side effects—some frequent (like reduced sexuality); some rare but dangerous (like agitation, suicidality, and violence). But SSRIs fit so neatly into everyday life that 20 percent of women now take them. Diagnostic inflation will always be an inevitable consequence of an aggressively marketed, easy-to-take pill.
References
- Frances, Allen. (2013). Saving Normal CHAPTER 3. Diagnostic Inflation (p. 127). New York, NY: HarperCollins.
Metadata
Type:🔴 Tags: Psychiatry / History Status:☀️