A Financial Consequence of Depression

Why You Should Talk to Your Doctor About Generics

Depression affects 14.8 million Americans in a given year and I'm one of them. When I was a sophomore in college, I learned that my mother had terminal cancer. This news threw me into a downward, depressive spiral. Months later, my friends finally convinced me to get help at the college's health center. A combination of really good friends, counseling, and medication helped me pull through.

Unfortunately, that's not the end of the story. Even 4 years later, I still feel the after-effects of that period, not just in my head but also in my wallet. You see, antidepressants are pretty important to getting and staying well. And most doctors prescribe name-brand anti-depressants, the expensive ones.

So if you don't have insurance, you're in a bad place. And having depression can lead to losing your job (thus no insurance) and having a hard time finding one after you've been through therapy, if you can afford it (again, no insurance).

Unfortunately, since I don't currently have insurance (I'm in a temp-to-hire position) this means paying the full price. As I said, I cut them in half, and since the 5mg dose costs about the same as the 10mg, I "only" spend $45/month on them by buying 1 month of 10mg and cutting them to last for 2 months.

The financial effects for me are at least $45/month, combined with not getting as good a dose as I could. They also include doctors visits and could include therapy. When I had insurance, it still cost $25 for me. For others, the copays were sometimes even higher.

This is a problem. But I think the cost of medications, anyway, has a comparatively simple solution.

Right now, lots of doctors are prescribing brand-name antidepressants to their patients. Yet there are plenty of generic types out there, a variety which means that they could fit the different peoples' needs. Many are simply older versions of the name brand (which was probably only reformulated because the formula was going to be public property). They can cost as little as $4-6 per month. That would fit most peoples' budgets just fine.