Numbing Values

I read a startling article this morning in the Wall Street Journal, The Medication Generation.   It opened my eyes to something I had never considered.  There are millions of young people who have been on antidepressants from their tweens to their early twenties, who do not know what it is like to “be themselves”.   In my experience teaching I’ve seen that it’s hard enough for people to live their values, when they do know themselves.  I can only image the challenge this segment of the world will face as they strive to find balance between jobs, families and themselves as they age. (Let alone the long term impacts of taking medication daily might have on the body.)    Like the author of the article and related book on the topic, I can’t help but wonder if daily ongoing antidepressants at such a young age, impact the development or attraction to one’s core values.