It is indeed important to ensure safe and proper medication is administered to children and adolescents. But may I contend that the more alarming reality of your investigation into depression drugs for these young people (The Age, 26/4, 27/4) transcends the medication per se.
Why are so many young people needing these drugs in the first place in such increasing numbers? What, I wonder, is the underlying malaise gripping our nation that warrants such extreme medical practice? What is happening in our homes, behind closed doors in suburbia, that such youngsters are crippled by anxiety and unhappiness?
Surely we must address the incidence of these illnesses by looking beyond medication to see whether we can understand why these youngsters are so troubled. It is not, however, about apportioning blame to families or schools but rather to delve more deeply into why depression is so rampant in our midst.
Have our values and morals been torn asunder in the quest for materialism and pecuniary success so that we don’t know what our young people need?
Love has always been the underlying premise for happiness- self-love and love of others. But has the notion of love and how important it is been lost in the crazy scenario of our present social fabric? Psychologist Erich Fromm wrote a book many decades ago called The Art of Loving-perhaps it should be compulsory reading for us all in order to find some answers for the disturbing depression that is only getting worse.
While it’s a cliché to say money does not bring happiness, it may be time to unveil another cliché: love conquers all.