Prozac nation:

I read today that antidepressants are the most widely-prescribed drugs in the United States. I was impressed, since I would have guessed that drugs related to our obesity "epidemic" would have taken the cake (haha) in this fat nation. Apparently, we are even sadder (quite) than we are obese (morbidly). Blood pressure drugs did come in second on the list of most-prescribed, and while they were not listed, I imagine that cholesterol drugs and others related to our blight of portliness could not have been far behind.

I'm not sure exactly why Americans are so sad - perhaps it is because we look in the mirror every day and find that the pants don't fit anymore and the ole belly looks a little saggier than yesterday.

Although America has plenty to be unhappy about these days (enraged, more likely), I find that the abundance of antidepressants is similar to the sudden outbreak of ADD in America's children. This country loves problems. We love complaining about problems, having problems, being the victim, and complaining as much as possible. So if there is a chance that a doctor can validate our symptoms with a well-timed prescription for whatever ails us, we are all the happier. So, perhaps those children weren't just poorly behaved because they of poor parenting; it was the ADD, and it was out of our hands.

It is this logic and more behaviors built into our American-ness that lead us to seek out quick fixes to more complex problems. By quickly jumping to antidepressants, Americans are probably avoiding confronting the larger issues that plague this nation. The article presented a perfectly sad-but-true example of this:

Dr. Ronald Dworkin tells the story of a woman who didn't like the way her husband was handling the family finances. She wanted to start keeping the books herself but didn't want to insult her husband.

The doctor suggested she try an antidepressant to make herself feel better.

She got the antidepressant, and she did feel better, said Dr. Dworkin, a Maryland anesthesiologist and senior fellow at Washington's Hudson Institute, who told the story in his book "Artificial Unhappiness: The Dark Side of the New Happy Class." But in the meantime, Dworkin says, the woman's husband led the family into financial ruin.

Needless to say, we are prescribing patches for larger problems. Rather than look for quick solutions, we need to understand that the majority of the answers to our problems - both personal and societal - can only come from within. As Abraham Lincoln said, "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

To read the article, click here.