The issue of psychotropic drug use, particularly among adolescents and young people, is causing concern. This is confirmed by the latest studies, which have been echoed by the ARA, which indicate that "in 2023, the last with definitive government data, more than 1.2 million Catalans received at least one dispensation of antidepressants." Prescriptions among those under fifteen years of age have tripled since 2020. The news also says that these drugs, "roughly speaking
Students arrive at the university who are taking medication derived from a variety of mental disorders such as hyperactivity and attention deficit, but who have started taking medication from primary school or high school. Some Decide to encourage yourself and try your luck at taking them, to see what happens. In general, consumption is selective: it is maintained at the time of exams or when they go to class, during the academic year. From secondary school onwards, and in the early years, medication for depression has also begun to be noticed.
At morning time, a group of medicated students do not have the time to attend class. The cos does not carry. L'absentisme is elevated. Some young people report that they cannot sleep at night as a secondary effect of these medications, or that they cause great drowsiness. If they accompany them to the kitchen at the end of the building, they can still get to the classroom, and then go to sleep right away. Together on the chair, it is difficult for them to listen or participate in the teaching dynamic. But there is still another consequence of this state of affairs. When they are awake, it is as if they are not there. Instead of absenteeism, a modality of existential absence emerges. They stretch their legs, bow their heads. But where are they? What do you think? They say they "have" hyperactivity or lack of attention, or depression, but this statement is not enough, we do not see them well. The drugs put them in a place that is not theirs. They are not there. Like when they tell you that they will give you a general anesthetic, it means that you will not notice anything. The impression when dealing with these boys and girls is precisely this: they do not notice anything. They are on a balcony and look down at how people pass by, but how can they go out for a walk with others? That feeling in the dialogue with them is distressing. We would like to activate them, but without reaching them, from their own and personal invisibility, what can we do? One thing is the diagnosis, the classification category. But another very different thing is how to live the experience of the disorder. Medication is a possible way in difficult cases. However, the question for the person must go beyond the psychotropic drug: is there someone lurking around? If the drug eliminates this possibility, then general anesthesia affects everyone, those who take medication and also those who do not. The social epidemic of medicalization makes no one notice anything, not even life as it happens.
