Even though antidepressants are much more often prescribed today, and mostly to the baby boomer generation, the statistics show that the rate of suicide among those between 45-54 are still the highest. Why is that?Shouldn’t easier accessibility and more drugs be solving our problems. Actually, instead, it proves the point exactly, that medication and magic pills don’t really solve everything.

In years past, according to a New York Times article published about the findings, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/us/06suicide.html?ref=health, it has been those that are over 80 that accounted for most suicides. But that all changed five years ago when the numbers started to show that men and women (more men than women) were committing suicide between the ages of 45 and 54.

As baby boomers, the rise in numbers was attributed to easier accessibility to guns and prescription drugs, as well as a higher rate of depression.But why can’t these suicides be prevented, and what’s really causing people at that age to feel depressed.

The Center for Disease Control’s information can be found here http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/suicide/statistics/aag.html#3, and it will show that even with the access to more antidepressants, we are still more depressed. Why is that? The important thing to know here is that you should not always believe what you read.

The New England Journal of Medicine recently published information that notes that many pharmaceutical companies simply choose not to publish articles that don’t show antidepressants positively. As a matter of fact, after looking into 74 studies published about 12 various antidepressants. The study showed a scary figure that 22, all without positive results, were simply not published.

How can they do this? (http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/358/3/252). The safest thing that we can do is to try to make ourselves as healthy as possible without relying on medication. For example, here are four things that we can work on to try and make ourselves a little bit healthier and happier:

• make sure that you get enough light during the day. Getting enough Vitamin D has proven to be healthy for so many reasons, from mood boosters to prevention of cancer.
• stress management: try to reduce the stress in your life with natural exercise and breaks, as well as time to relax and enjoy.
• Sleep: sleep is such a problem for many of us. Whether there is too much light that causes interrupted sleep or lack of sleep, we, as Americans, tend to not sleep properly.
• Eating the wrong foods: This is a major cause of how we act and feel. I always encourage a caveman diet of no wheat or dairy, plenty of leafy greens, water, and lean meats. Organic if possible.

Do you feel symptoms of depression but are worried about being on medication? Is the medication you are on not working for you?