Managing Mental Health Medications for Depression and its Ethical Contradiction

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Table of Contents

Objectives
Managing Medication for Depression
Background Importance
Medication Response
References

Objectives

Depression is the most widespread mental health disorder that affects people around the globe. Managing medication for the disorder is a broad topic that must be discovered from different angles. People react to such medication differently depending on their background, features, and attitudes toward the treatment. The topic is highly interesting because it gives a profound knowledge about how people vary in reactions to drugs, what factors influence their response, and what depression treatment looks like. The first objective of the presentation is to understand how to manage medication for depression. The second objective is to discover ethical contradictions in such treatment for people of various cultures and how different people perceive the disorder and react to the medication.

Managing Medication for Depression

A wide range of medications exists to treat depression, and the majority of them are concentrated on increasing the level of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine in an individual’s brain. The lack of such chemicals is the reason for the disorder’s development; that is why the treatment is based on their incensement. Antidepressants are the most commonly used medication in such cases. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and Selective serotonin & norepinephrine inhibitors (SNRIs) are frequently used drugs for such treatment (Bhandari, 2021). Among them are citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram oxalate (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac), desvenlafaxine (Khedezla), desvenlafaxine succinate (Pristiq), duloxetine (Cymbalta) (Bhandari, 2021). However, a fundamental thing to understand is that there is no specific formula to treat depression or any other mental health disorder because every person is unique, and different factors and features must be considered. For instance, it may depend on a person’s medication response and what side effects may be evoked by drugs. Such treatment requires from four to eight weeks to be effective (Bhandari, 2021). Sometimes to treat the disorder, it is crucial to combine drugs, one main antidepressant with a secondary one from a different class, such as a mood stabilizer or atypical antipsychotic that could boost the effect (Bhandari, 2021). Moreover, it is vital to keep in mind that when ceasing taking medication, a patient must gradually reduce the dose to avoid side effects.

Background Importance

There are multiple contradictions that may occur about medication for depression for people from different cultures. People of different backgrounds understand, perceive, and even feel differently. Environment, mentality, and even language affect how an individual experiences mental problems. For instance, some languages do not contain words to express such problems as anxiety and depression (Martínez, 2019). Due to that, humans experience such disorders as depression differently and diversify in symptoms. In the USA, for African-American or Latino immigrants, it is still tough to access qualified treatment for depression due to the lack of ability to describe the problem, mentality, and the absence of insurance treatment may become impossible (Martínez, 2019). Moreover, an individual’s attitude to such treatment must be considered because it may become a key factor in its effectiveness.

Medication Response

Additionally, antidepressant response varies in different cultures, which is fundamental to consider. Such factors as the cultural dimensions of power distance, masculinity, and indulgence were correlated with the antidepressant response rate in the investigation (Rajkumar, 2021). It is assumed that individuals from cultures with a high power distance receive more support from peers and feel more united, which leads to a better response to depression medication. Furthermore, people with a background where they were less powerful and influenced by authority will show more trust in doctors (Rajkumar, 2021). This would lead to a higher expectation of the effectiveness of the treatment and a better result. If the assumption is true, people from such cultures will show an increased placebo effect. Rajkumar’s study and article “Does culture influence antidepressant response? A preliminary investigation of randomized controlled trials of fluoxetine” are precious materials for those who want to understand how cultural factors and mentality may impact the response to antidepressants.