DoctorOz: Why Are 1 in 5 Women on Anti-Depressants? | S6 | Ep 38 | Full Episode

It's the worst-kept secret in America, but no one expected this Today on Oz the truth one in five women is hiding hooked on antidepressants But at what cost to their health plus a big challenge for the little couple They battled Jen's cancer while raising two toddlers Now the scare that could have left Bill in a wheelchair for life coming up next on dr. Oz They're being called the silent partner in American motherhood Antidepressants, and I just read a statistic that I gotta say as a doctor caught me completely off-guard One in five women are turning to antidepressants for help today I'm asking why our depression levels really this high are American women being over prescribed mother's little helper an Astonishing one in five American women now take an antidepressant and not necessarily for depression Some moms argue that antidepressants are a useful tool in getting them through the day like Carrie Antidepressants make me a more functional person. It makes me a better mom I get overwhelmed a lot so it helps me put things into perspective The use of antidepressants in the United States has skyrocketed nearly 400% over the last two decades They're now the third most common prescription drug used by Americans and women are more than twice as likely to take them But in many instances the drugs are over prescribed And if the wrong people take them they can end up feeling empty and withdrawn I feel that the antidepressants not only took away the depression, but it took away everything it took away all the highs It took away the happiness. It took away excitement. It just made me even With more women on antidepressants than ever before any woman taking mother's little helper must now ask is it really helping? We just met Carrie and Kellyanne in our tape piece carries a mother of two who says antidepressants make her a better mother Kellyanne went off the drugs because she said they were turning her into a zombie Psychiatrist, dr. Suvarna is also here today She's a mother herself and is worried about the wrong woman being over prescribed these drugs So Carrie if I can start with you help me understand how you feel more comfortable with these medications How they change your life for the better? Just being a single mom and having two little girls. It gets very overwhelming So it just it really helps me sort through things on you know a daily Thing with you know dinner and homework and all this stuff to have to do being a single parent so it's it's pretty tough and Kellyanne you described a sense of dullness when you're on the medications and You feel differently I gather now just can you describe that that change? Yes, when I was on the Paxil I was even keel there were no highs there were no lows. I was just even all the time And now that I'm off of it. I laugh more. I I cry a lot more And I feel that I'm myself again. I I didn't realize for the longest time that I was gone I was not my normal person that I grew up to be so I feel that now my children are actually getting to know who I am not the medicated person that I was Dr.. Farm help me understand this alarming statistic one in five American women are taken antidepressants Is it really possible that one in five women are depressed clinically no in fact? We see that the incidence of depression is actually more one in ten, but what we're finding in dr. Oz this is what's so concerning to me is that 50% of the time that patients are being prescribed by their family physicians They don't even have a mental health diagnosis and dr. Oz in what other field of medicine would we ever consider this acceptable right without getting a thorough mental health? Evaluation or any kind of evaluation to be on medication so it kind of in my mind even borders Slightly irresponsible when you don't have a mental health professional doing a thorough evaluation Karen Kelly I can I if I can ask the EDVC a psychiatrist before you were prescribed the medications no I didn't I did not my doctor actually recommended that I go see somebody and I said okay sure sure just give me the prescription I'll go I'll go I I'm dumbfounded because it's such an important decision to go on a pill of this nature it changes our lives in many ways Dr.. Varma when someone is not officially diagnosed with having depression. How are they being given antidepressants? What's the argument for it? Yeah? You know dr. Oz there are so many people who need it and for them I want to say it's a very beneficial However, we're having a lot of what we're seeing is these doorknob conversations doorknob dialogue And what I mean by that is that family physicians are swamped they're discussing your blood pressure your cholesterol your diabetes How much time do you think that that actually leaves for a mental health evaluation most psychiatrists will spend about 90 minutes? How much time do you think you're getting in one of these primary care physician appointments? Maybe two or three at best so we're missing a whole number of other Diagnosis when in fact it might not be depression at all and you're getting a prescription without being offered legitimate other options in addition to medication medication I always say to my patients is one part of a larger tool set and there are so many other coping skills and things that People can do instead of medication for the more milder to moderate cases. There's no questions sometimes. We need to be on these medications I'm not against them across the board, but let me show you what I'm concerned about that's where I'm going to join me so they since 1994 20 years. All right. We've seen a 400% increase in the use of these pills 400% it's a big number. I'm skeptical that we have 400% more people who are clinically depressed and have a nearly 500 million prescriptions written every single year 59% of these prescriptions are written by family doctors and only 23% are written by a psychiatrist So that Varma this might be the biggest concern of all yes This is so alarming to me because why is it that less than one-fourth of our prescriptions are written by a mental health professional? Now when you go to see your doctor, it's important that you look at a differential diagnosis, right? So when someone comes in with a variety of symptoms, you might be masking another problem So many of these things present initially as depression So we must get people to get thorough mental health evaluations And and if there's other another underlying problem wreaking havoc in your body deal with it and then deal with the depression as well So we're shedding light on an important problem today That's why we're having this conversation and I think the wrong women are being given the wrong medicines by the wrong doctors It's a lot of wrongs in the same sentence as you can imagine This is a hot-button issue for moms We wanted to make sure that all those questions that you have were being answers We invited some mom bloggers here to live tweet the show and see what's trending in their online communities Thank you for all being here So the first question if you don't mind I'm gonna ask this is a question that I've heard versions of if a patient walks into their family doctor's office presenting with these symptoms of exhaustion Irritability and trouble sleeping very very commonly expressed symptoms and so they're immediately given antidepressant without a clinical diagnosis What can that medication do to their body? You know antidepressants like any other medication have important side effects and we need to be aware of it So if a person doesn't have depression, they shouldn't be on antidepressants antidepressants can cause anxiety They can cause insomnia. They can cause headache GI problems. If you need it, you take it if you don't need it This is not a medication that's gonna it's not an opera. Okay, you take it when you need it Lauren you've got a question for us. Yes One of the main questions that was coming up actually got a lot of personal emails about it was how long? You know, do you have to take them or how long is too too long? I actually had a reader asked me She's been on the same one for 20 years What kind of damage has she done to her body in those 20 years? It's a long time Yeah, it's a great question. And it's one that I often get asked by many of my patients how long so the first episode We typically say anywhere from 6 to 12 months But I want to caution you to say that this doesn't mean that you take the prescription from your family doctor and run and come Back in a year when you come for your next physical Absolutely not when I see patients in the beginning I see them on a very frequent basis and then when they're stable you can slowly monitor them, you know off But it's very important that during this time that they get monitored very closely and Karen what kinds of questions your followers asking? Yeah, dr. Oz, you know in my community One of the questions that comes up a lot is the effectiveness over a long period of time You know is too much too much what to do That's another great question is that sometimes medication the SSRI is particularly let many of the antidepressants can lose their effectiveness It's what we call poop out syndrome. So again about poop out syndrome. Yeah, he's pooping every single show Have anyone on depression? It used to work great and it doesn't anymore And the other thing we want to say is that you know in addition to the medication There are other therapies that you need to add on because a medication will lose its effectiveness over time So you have to talk to your doctor about the dose does it need to be increased? Do you need to add do you need to switch those kind of things? But again with this is a conversation you should have with a mental health professional Thank you. Keep building all the tweets and everything carry and Kelly. Let me turn back to you Do you think there's some misconceptions about moms, especially moms on antidepressants that we're completely losing the boat on? Yeah, I I think we get judged a lot I think people think we're like crazy Especially when they hear that we're on some type of antidepressant medication So it's tough because you're judged on a daily basis And I find that they look at you and think you're weak. You can't handle the problems by yourself You can't deal with your anxiety. So you turn to a medication and it's absolutely not true Dr. Barber, what resources are available out there? I know it's difficult to act on some of the things we've been talking about but folks should be alarmed I want to help empower women to know that in Many of the cases especially in the mild to moderate cases that women can do so many things for themselves Exercise social support sleep talk therapy We have found that all of these things have proven that in mild to moderate cases can be equally if not more effective than medication and the more moderate to severe cases See a mental health provider and if you cannot make an appointment with a mental health provider for any reason then schedule like you did An appointment specifically to talk to your doctor. Don't wait until the end of the appointment spend the entire session on your mental health Why is it that we don't dedicate enough time to this mental health is equally if not important than physical health But if there's Carrie when we probe a little deeper, she actually went to the doctor for hypertension Yeah, then depression came up. But what you're saying is schedule appointment for depression Yeah, nothing else that we have enough time to talk about it Listen folks these drugs come with significant side effects And that's why you should have a clear diagnosis ideally from a mental health professional before going on them I remember this our physical villages. They are spreading out. This is a modern America I see that but I encourage you to take part in the online Villages that resources for men the mommy bloggers we talked to here are a great example of that I know this is a hot-button topic. So we want to keep the discussion going on Twitter You can use hashtag Oz talk and we'll have answers to your top questions about depression on dr. Oz calm. Be right back Are you prescribed antidepressants? What is your experience been like being on them? I've been on them for almost five years now and to be honest, I'm not so sure how right they are for me I plan to talk to my doctor about what my options are share your story on dr. Oz's Facebook page Next they capture the hearts of millions on the reality series The Little Couple Challenged with raising two toddlers while Jen battled cancer this remarkable family faced an even bigger challenge They could have left bill paralyzed for life. Their story is next Dr. Oz reveals the number one thing you need to drastically stop down aging Telling me to blow your mind the anti-aging strategy that keeps you looking and feeling young all new dr. Oz That's coming up tomorrow Jen and Bill and their wonderful kids capture the hearts of millions each week on their hit TV show The Little Couple Besides the challenges of raising two high-energy toddlers bill and Jen have also faced Multiple serious medical challenges and another big one this past year It's something that could have left bill in a wheelchair for the rest of his life There you go their dream was to have a family and for Bill and Jen Raising their two kids Zoe and Will has been a non-stop joyride the selfish part of me wants to keep them cute little kids But at the same time I am so excited to see what they become But America's favorite little family has also faced more than their share of daunting medical challenges Still reeling from Jen's battle with cancer. I was sick for so long and now getting back to normal life No more sick mommy daughter Zoe was brought in for important genetic testing to identify What type of dwarfism she has and which medical conditions? She might be at risk for my home today because that we can confirm her diagnosis so that we can plan Okay What are the things that we need to be on the lookout for and just when they thought the worst was over? Bill was forced to undergo serious back surgery. I'm concerned that things could go not the right way I love you. I have to try to get this fixed. I can't imagine anything happening to Bill You know, I need him. I Got to meet your adorable kids So we have a Zoe like I have a Zoe and we'll so we're gonna meet them in a little while to coming out everybody How'd they join us, but let me ask you about you first So you were on the show last year and you had just gone through nine months of chemo major surgery Yes, the cancer spread your lungs. Yes. How you doing? I was stage four and now I'm in complete remission cancer-free nine months And it's not the only good news you actually took Zoe to get genetic testing I love you could just explain to folks why it's important and what what difference it makes Yeah So we found out Zoe's diagnosis that her type of dwarfism is called achondroplasia And it's the same type that her brother will has and what's really fantastic about that news is that she should not have Nearly the number of complications bone wise and orthopedic wise as we have had growing up So hopefully her both her and will will never need as many surgeries as we did Just to give you a little bit of an idea you'd share this with me. Jen's had 20 about 30 surgeries Though you've had the 20s that right 20 and counting 20 counting. It's unbelievable as a pediatrician, but his parents as well Well, how does it change your perspective to realize that your kids will have a very different relationship with surgery than you have had? As parents, I'm very appreciative that they'll have a different life as far as surgery and the complications and Post-operative care that they'll not have to endure Because it's a heck of a lot harder being a parent than it is being a patient. I've done both I still stick by it It's tough being a parent See your child going to the operating room is the scariest thing ever And when you know that they'll have that life as your parents knew you would have but not blessed No, you won't have to face that So let me turn the bill if I can In addition to all the other crazy things that were happening over the past year bill You had a major major back problem. It could have left you in a wheelchair Yeah, Jen is someone who is a physician, you know, actually in detail what this really meant Yeah It's um, you know every time we face a medical issue knowing a little bit more than the average person is a little scary Um, but we knew that essentially basically bill has a curvature of the spine He's got deformities of the spine due to a skeletal dysplasia and then also had an injury With a kettlebell actually working out kettlebell Yeah, I was stupid and tried to stay in shape. I will go back to the couch Yeah, I didn't pay to work out at that point never again But essentially he had an injury then on his already, you know Fragile spine and ended up resulting in pinching of the nerves. He's actually had some compression and Symptoms that required a decompression and later a fusion right after these are bloody operations. Yeah Yeah, I lost four units of blood right? Well one and a half liters one half liters. I got four units Did you have any idea that was gonna happen? No, I woke up to that wonderful news But I did yeah, it was a YouTube the surgery prior to going in bad idea. Yeah, I wouldn't advise it Let me show you what bill was going through it over This is actually a very very common problem in America that folks are facing But they don't actually know what happens to your spine as it starts to degenerate and sometimes you get something called spinal stenosis So yeah, you've been behind the demo tables before before Give me just a moment. I'm still post up here I do what applaud you you're two weeks out now. I'm six weeks out six weeks out. Well, I'm happy you're here I'm glad you're you'd be able to even walk all right, so this is the Spine and there's two which represents the little disc in between the the actual bones of the spine It's pretty accurate. If you look on the inside though, that's where all the action is on the inside You see this nice all these nerves Which we reflected with these little wires and then the goopy stuff around it That's the the fluid and they act as a cushion So you've got actual space there see how much room you have there and you have the fluid that actually provides a little bit of A buffer but with spinal stenosis What you have is a narrowing where literally that canal that's supposed to help you begins to get narrowed so bill yours probably looks similar to this and And you basically stretch a stretch to narrow off an area that doesn't have much room to begin with and you eventually Cause the numbness as this whole part of the spine lights up So the head is up here pushing them and electricity throwing the feet down here This whole area lights up as you've compressed too much of the spine So what the doctors did although it is bloody because you got to cut through all the bones is peel off the stenosis And when you do that and you relieve the stricture the tension the pain starts to slowly dissipate Which is what I'm hoping what you're feeling now some Better slowly When you say better slowly, are you still having to take a lot of pain medications pain medications part of the regimen right now It's just walking as much as I can And I'm in constant pain. I don't sleep as well as I used to but supposedly that'll go away Supposedly. Yeah said like someone going through the process. Yeah, once again, don't read anything online So I promised everybody that we could meet your kids are you all excited about this Will and Zoey are here. Come on out kids You're so beautiful my parents Come here, so Anyone come here. Come say hi. We're getting nervous You beautiful look into the cameras, which is a smart thing to do. She knows where the action is. You say hi, dr. Oz What are we talking about? No shots So yeah, no shots from this time shots. Dr. Oz. He said he was saying in the back. No shots. Dr. Oz Well, do you like having a younger sister? Is it fun for you? Yeah. So here I got a little gift now This is a little doll that I thought might come in handy for you if you're interested you can have that Wow You want to share that with your sister? You want to keep it yourself? You know what he's smart he saw this one, too Be sure to check out bills Jen Zoe and will I'm a little couple Tuesday nights on TLC be right back It can affect people at any moment 60% are women every 18 minutes one becomes life-threatening Uncover the symptoms of a brain aneurysm the clues you need to look for that could save your life Coming up next on the dr. Oz show We are bringing a healthy back this season and wants you to bring it to grab your prescription pad for fun and sign up for Free tickets today. You can go to dr. Oz comm slash tickets and sign up Today I want everyone watching to be their own detective I'm gonna give you the clues you need in order to help save your own life together We're gonna uncover four symptoms of a deadly condition I want everyone to be aware of because you know what this condition can affect 1 in 50 people at any moment And nearly 60% of these people are women and every 18 minutes one of these becomes life-threatening So what is it? Well, we're gonna find out every clue that we're gonna find today is gonna reveal a symptom So keep track of the symptoms So you'll know what to look out for if it ever happens to you or someone you care about Vanessa's here to be my fellow detective. How are you? I like your hat But I have a special detective hat for you. Would you consider switching out? Oh my god, dr Oz don't you know what you're doing to me take this hat off. Yeah, I'll guard you No one's gonna see this. Okay Just saying that you gotta switch it out. I'm gonna wear your hat. They're perfectly done. I'll wear this hat. Oh Yeah, you like that. Oh, yeah It's me. All right So I'm gonna talk to you about some things that if you experience these symptoms You're gonna reflect them be it back to me. You must have unusual symptoms once in a while anyway Yeah, sometimes so come on over here. The first clue is in this box. Go ahead and put your hand in there All right, and what you pull out? It is pair of glasses Put them on tell me what you see Well, I can't see a thing. Okay. That's exactly what you're doing. That's that's Vanessa's view, by the way So it's that it's pretty blurry. It's blurry. I can't see so that's the first clue This problem causes blurry vision you ever get blurry vision. I do actually you do I do What makes it get better when I'm well? When I stop looking at the computer monitor, oh, yeah, and I close my eyes and just let them reset Yep, and then my my eyes look that I feel better You look beautiful me, but you get dizzy pretty quickly All right So the first clip will remember this the first clue is blurry vision this mysterious element causes that it affects your eyes in a very Unique way and that's why we can't focus if one eye is working one eyes not you're gonna get blurry vision because your brain is Not able to cooperate with it within itself. Okay, come on over here second big clue. Go ahead and dig in there See what you find Second big clue to this ailment is in a bottle and it is Pins and needles. Yes You ever get pins and needles in your hands your feet. I'm saying yes to everything Yes, you get that too and like the tips of my fingers you do I do. Is that a common phenomenon? When it's cold when it's cold, I typically do that happens to a lot of folks because our blood vessels get tight Yeah, but what you know, let's talk about what this is Numbness on the way to numbness you'll feel pins and needles because your body's not sensing things correctly This condition causes that because it affects some of the nerves So we know that it's affecting your vision by making your eyes not speak to each other We know that it causes numbness in your fingers because it's affecting your nerves when you have numbness You can also get pins and needles we spoke about. Okay, you're getting closer now. That's two clues All right, third clue is a really important one. Go ahead. Put your hand in there This is a clue for a lot of problems. It is a barf bag Do you ever use these things? Not really not really finally So there's a nausea is a third condition. It happens commonly because this condition builds up pressure Especially frankly in your head and by doing that it makes your not feel so comfortable with what's going on around you So it can trigger nausea and sometimes vomiting and the like. All right, so I've got the last clue I've got three clues so far We're asking you guys what diagnosis is I've given you a pair of clue number clues The last clue is under someone's chair in the audience. So we'll look under your chair right now Whoever's got something weird under there. Come on down. Anyone see it. Oh, come on down. Come on down What an interesting little prop you have there. Come on Come on over here. Come on down. You're my co-detective. So you've got a brain with a vice in it Yikes What's your name? Sherry. Sherry. If I did this to your head, what would you feel? Pain pain, that's your last clue. Okay a headache now very specifically This is described usually is the worst headache of your life and it tends to be a headache That's different from a lot of other headaches is all over the place and just you know be up sort of behind the eye But oh, it's deep. So any guesses Would it be a migraine? Migraine is close, but it's not my this is a much more serious problem. Any thoughts from the audience? I Heard a couple people say it you ready for this. The answer is Aneurysm very well stated. It's an aneurysm It's a balloon like bulging of one of the blood vessels of the brain and when that happens that bulging aneurysm You can cause all these symptoms and if it pops it will literally cause the worst headache you've ever had So the symptoms appear out of the blue and it literally is the worst headache of your life You call 9-1-1. You say exactly those words worst headache of life because doctors and nurses know what that means we're trained from the first day of medical school to think brain aneurysm because we got to move quickly to save you and what You're not gonna do is take an aspirin Because a lot of folks feel they got a bad headache Maybe they're having a stroke or a heart attack They quickly take an aspirin not for this Because aspirin thins the blood and obviously if the balloon in your brain is popped the blood is all over the place You don't want it to bleed more by thinning your blood What do you think? I think I'm gonna be very cognizant of that. You have a very nice hat, by the way I like you. Thank you very much. Nice little gift to you. We'll be right back Next fruit used to be the holy grail of diet foods But some say the sugar may be doing more harm than good so can fruit make you fat the surprising facts What every dieter needs to watch out for when trying to lose weight next? Dr. Oz reveals the number one thing you need to drastically stop down aging Now let me employ your mind the anti-aging strategy that keeps you looking and feeling young all-new. Dr. Oz That's coming up tomorrow The big conversation today a question that's being asked in the diet community is fruit making you fat Fruit used to be the holy grail of diet foods But now some say the sugar may be doing more harm than good and is causing controversy among many health experts Whether it's by pyramid or plate Traditional dietary guidelines have long served up multiple servings of fruit as one of the key ways to stay healthy and fit Packed with water vitamins and fiber some fruits have even grabbed headlines for cutting the risk of heart disease by 40% But now some are red flagging its high sugar content Singling out fruit as a possible offender in America's ongoing battle of the bulge That's because some of our most popular fruits can be alarmingly high in fructose a simple sugar and carbohydrates Two culprits that can sabotage weight loss in fact a cup of grapes is filled with as much sugar as some candy bars So it's fruit making you fat Today the surprising answers Here to give us the bottom line is the director of the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute and my colleague and friend. Dr. Mike Royzen So get right to it big controversy. Can fruit make you fat? Well fruit can make you fat if you eat too much of it So I had one patient who went on a fruit and veggie diet and she had 75 portions a day So I had to have someone else cook So that's an awful lot of fruit and veggies to have if you will but she was even at 50 calories a portion She was eating