title: Depression, SSRIs, and the supposed obligation to suffer mentally.
abstract: Within both popular and academic literature, concerns have been expressed about the implications of antidepressant use on character development. In this paper, I identify specific versions of these worries and argue that they are misguided. I begin by arguing that the obligation to suffer if it will bring about a noble character is imagined. Legitimate concerns about character enhancement remain, but they do not count against most antidepressant use. Thus there is no moral prohibition against antidepressant use. Furthermore, some of the calls for caution about antidepressant use, such as those expressed by the President's Council on Bioethics, are overstated.
authors.affiliation: Division of Outreach and Continuing Education, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT.
authors.forename: J Mark
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Olsen
mesh_terms: D026683:Advisory Committees; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D032763:Behavior Control / Q000941:ethics; D024803:Biomedical Enhancement / Q000941:ethics; D002605:Character; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D004644:Emotions; D005610:Freedom; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders; D009014:Morals; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012931:Social Environment; D013240:Stereotyping; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D028722:Virtues
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors