Imagine that your kid has depression; they are always gloomy even on their birthday. Now imagine that there is a medication that can help them, yet you are against medicating your child. Some parents do not like medicating their children for depression, but depression is something that can not go unmedicated. Anti-depressants are thought to be dangerous and addictive. Ask anyone who takes anti-depressants, though, and they will tell you how much anti-depressants have improved their lives. Children with depression are more prone to social and mental issues, and they need to be taking anti-depressants.

The risks of depression vastly out weigh the risks of anti-depressants. A lot of parents are against medicating their children for anything, much less depression. Parents should know that the side effects of depression are, in most cases, worse than the depression itself (Koplevicz 106). Children who take anti-depressants participate in school more effectively, and have better relationships with peers and family. Children greatly benefit from anti-depressants in both their personal and professional lives.

Parents work in an unhealthy mindset when it comes to medicating their children for depression. Some parents are immediately against medicating their kid’s depression (Koplevicz 103). Kids with parents like these are less likely to succeed in school. Parents must pull themselves away from the thought that anti-depressants are bad. Parents must work with their doctors to pick an anti-depressant that is effective and safe.

Depression can drive teens to suicide. Teens that live with untreated depression often end up committing suicide. Suicide is committed by teens that have troubles in school, with peers, and at home. In adolesants, mood issues such as depression have made the suicide rate greatly increase (Satcher 75). These rates will be greatly lowered by administering anti-depressants to children and teens alike.

Parents need to change their “no medication” attitude if they ever hope to help their kids. Parents not only need to work with their doctors, but also with their kids. Only when parents and kids work together to solve their depression issues, will they ever go away. If children do not get the medication that they need then they will not have a future as full and rich as their parents had hoped for them.





Works Cited
Koplevicz, Harold Mental Illness
San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2000

Satcher, David Opposing viewpoints:
Suicide San Diego: Greenhaven
Press, 2003