Tablets often only make things worse

YOU are to be commended for your coverage of our Prozac Nation (Irish Examiner, March 28).

The GMS figures are only estimates as there is no way of knowing precisely how many people are taking these drugs in Ireland.

The benefits are exaggerated and the dangers played down. In years to come we will look back and wonder how did we let this happen?

Those tablets may relieve some symptoms in the short term, but they do not deal with the source of the problem and they can make things a lot worse if you suffer the serious adverse effects that are always played down, and even denied.

If alcohol was on prescription, we would know little of the dangers associated with it.

Frequently these drugs are credited with results that owe more to the support of our loved ones. The use of those tablets should be closely monitored and restricted as they do more harm than good.

Maybe the medical profession should remember the motto ‘Primum Non Nocere’ (First Do No Harm) before they overprescribe them.

Nuria O’Mahony

10 The Hawthorns

Bandon

Co Cork