Antideoressants

Antidepressants

What determines a 'good' article from a 'bad' one? In the Des Moines Register on February 3, there was an article titled, 'More parents, doctors refuse to put kids on antidepressants," was written by Marilyn Elias. Elias is a well-known writer from USA Today, and has written on topics such as stress, marriage, and health. The article was about the effects on children, ages 18 and younger, taking depression pills. There are many elements that establish a 'good' article from a 'bad' one. Some of these elements would be the content, reader, and credibility.

In summary, the article talked about the effects that antidepressant pills have on children. Immense publicity about antidepressants causing suicidal behavior in children is prompting more parents to hesitate to take their kids to psychiatrists. More doctors are hesitating to put their patients on antidepressant prescriptions. Last October, the Food and Drug Administration ordered black box labels, the most severe warning, on all anti-depressants. Some doctors think that these medicines are "speed bumps" and might end in more suicides. Other doctors think, "For children who really need treatment, a 'wait and see' approach could be dangerous." The percentage rate of children's antidepressant prescriptions has dropped within the last couple months. Psychiatrist Bruce Black says, "Kids are unhappy for a lot of reasons, and antidepressants often aren't the solution."

The content is the most important part of an article. It needs to have a point with supporting details. Elias addresses many issues and backs them up with facts. She gives many health experts' opinions and their different views on the matter. For example, Elias also displays statistics showing the recent percentage changes within different time periods. The figures draw interest and shock to the article, and it makes the reader more interested. Although the article did not explain how the antidepressant drugs worked, she touched on the dangers and effects. If a person needs more information, or if one was more interested, they could obtain more information by researching depression further. There are many more treatments than just medications. One can go to therapy sessions or maybe more parental advisory would help a child on the right track. There are also many different types of depression. All the information that Elias focused on in the article was relevant to the topic of kids on antidepressants for depression.

Most of the articles in the Des Moines Register are written to inform the readers. This article is representative of the Des Moines Register because informing the reader is exactly what this article does. She includes studies reviewed by FDA scientists, quotes from a behavioral pediatrician from the University of Oklahoma, and opinions from a child psychiatrist from San Diego. Elias leaves her opinion out. This showed that the information, for the most part, is credible.

There did not seem to be a bias throughout the article. Elias did not concentrate on any one view. For instance, she would say how more doctors are giving depressed kids only Prozac because it is the only drug approved for childhood depression. She then turns around and explains that several other antidepressants have been widely and legally prescribed for kids because they have been approved for adults. This just shows how Elias does not set apart one idea from the rest. The information in the Elias' article is straight to the point, informative, and understandable.

This article appealed more to reason rather than passion. Although human beings need to hear good reasons to be persuaded, many people are not moved by logic alone. Elias' article has important issues that kept it interesting. She did not dwell on one thought too long and kept the story moving along with a plethora of dissimilar issues. The author states many facts and statistics from different, well-known sources. According to the article, "Studies reviewed by the FDA scientists show about two out of 100 kids become more suicidal because of the medicines." There was no one person telling a story on their own experience with antidepressant pills in this article. On Oprah and Dr. Phil's website they addressed the same issues with more emotion and sensitive stories. For example, there was a boy on Oprah who has talked about killing himself. Bryce, a 7-year-old, felt bad about himself because of a learning disability. There was another case of a 14-year-old girl whose depression led to anorexia. This brought more empathy and sympathy to draw attention to the story. In both websites, the stories grabbed the reader's attention by pulling them in sensitively. It is then when facts are brought up about the topic to prove a point. The article by Elias was more to strictly inform rather than pull at people's heartstrings.

Although the article had updated information for the reader, for example the black box labels that were going to appear on all antidepressants next month, I would not consider this article 'hard' news. According to the Media Awareness Network, hard news generally refers to up-to-the-minute news and events that are reported immediately, while soft news is background information or human-interest stories. For example, politics, war, and crime are considered hard news. Arts, entertainment, and lifestyles are considered soft. The

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