By Shauni Young

Editor:I am very uneasy with Casey Jacketta’s Aug. 23 column “Utahns are High on Prozac and Low on Life.” Having suffered from clinically diagnosed depression for more than 20 years, I am afraid that the information Jacketta asserted in her recent column may actually be dangerous to your readers. I am not a physician, and I certainly hope a physician responds to clarify the facts about mental illnesses. But I will tell you just a couple of facts she got wrong. First, she claims that SSRIs (serotonin-specific re-uptake inhibitors), “prevent neurotransmitters believed to cause depression from sending out signals.” The National Institute of Mental Health says instead that “SSRIs selectively block the re-uptake of one of the major neurotransmitters, serotonin.” According to the Philadelphia Medical Institute, serotonin is involved in the normal regulation of such body functions as mood, sleep and appetite. Serotonin’s increased availability is associated with lifting depression. Neurotransmitters like Serotonin do not “cause depression,” but help lift it significantly. Second, Jacketta’s statement that “anti-depressants and other prescription drugs have the same effect as alcohol and other mind-altering substances” is so general as to be wrong on its face. To lump anti-depressants with all other prescription drugs is ridiculous. Which drugs does she speak of? Those to help infertility? Those for allergies, for migraine headaches or blood thinners? Does Glucophage have the “same effect as alcohol and other mind-altering substances?” Isn’t Glucophage a “prescription drug.” Glucophage, for your information, is a prescription drug for diabetes. Does Ms. Jacketta know that there are different forms of depressive illnesses, just as there are for purely physiological illnesses such as heart disease? The National Institute of Mental Health even says that “within these types are variations in the number of symptoms, their severity and persistence.” I appreciate Jacketta’s opinion, but unfortunately it seems like a muddle of fact and fiction. I urge people who believe they may suffer from depression to seek help and take their medication under proper supervision. Taking anti-depressants as part of a package of prescribed mental health care can save lives. It’s that serious! Please don’t dismiss anti-depressants or any treatment of which you have little knowledge as merely a false front. The lives of many U students could be at stake. Shauni Young Alumna