Film Explores Antidepressant Use in Japan (Japan)
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
Executive Summary
A new documentary by Mike Mills called "Does Your Soul Have a Cold?" explores the use of antidepressants in Japan by following the lives of five Japanese men and women who use these pharmaceuticals for treating symptoms of clinical depression. Mills has found that Japanese society has increased its acceptance of mental illness and mental illness treatment during the last decade or so. He attributes this partially to the increase of advertising by pharmaceutical companies about mental illness. Antidepressant sales have risen by 500 percent since 1999, reports IMS. The film finds that only two out of the five depressed also seek counseling besides pharmaceutical therapy. Experts attribute this lack of counseling to Japan's lingering unease with depression. (Click here for more