Drugs/Therapy

New Study Reveals the Overwhelming Number of American Adults Dependency on Drugs

By Samtadena | Update Date: Dec 16, 2016 07:34 AM EST

An astonishing 80 percent of these adults who are dependent on Psychiatric Drugs have reported long-term exposure to these drugs. This figure is alarming for most health experts, considering that most of these prescribed drugs are only recommended for short-term use. The side effects of long term exposure may post a serious risk to general health and mental well-being.

1 out of 6 American Adults are taking psychiatric drugs at least once a year, revealed a report published by the JAMA Internal Medicine. The research which was spearheaded by Doctor Thomas J. Moore and his team uncovered that 37,000 American Adults whose ages range from 18 to 35 took three classes of drugs. 12 Percent of these adults took Antidepressants, while another 8.3 percent reported filling Sedatives and Hypnotics. An even more amazing discovery for this study is that women are more likely to use these drugs compared to men.

In an interview conducted by CBS News, Moore expressed his growing concern over the side effects of long-term psychiatric drug use. Some of these people who have been using short term drugs for a long time may have a high risk getting dependent on the drug. Eight out of ten of these commonly used drugs have withdrawal effects. Furthermore, Moore often wondered whether these patients are regularly monitored by their physicians to see if their treatments are still necessary.

It also raises the question about how much information the patients know about discontinuation effects. Lastly, Moore's greatest concern about this prevalent drug use is that, there are still no existing studies that will educate about the long term side effects of these psychiatric drugs.


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