Journal article
‘Now that's a fair dinkum academic debate, but this affects people's lives’: a discursive analysis of arguments for and against the provision of warnings about potential side effects of SSRIs in a public debate
Critical Public Health, Vol.20(1), pp.15 - 24
2010
Abstract
In recent years increasing media attention has highlighted the possibility that antidepressants may cause many disturbing side effects, including suicide. However, coverage of these issues has been criticised as negatively affecting people who suffer from depression. Employing the methods of discursive psychology, this paper examines how arguments are constructed for and against providing information about the full range of side effects of antidepressant medications, via the analysis of a public debate in which the potential side effects of SSRIs were the topic of concern. We demonstrate how one speaker draws on repertoires of consumer rights pitted against corporate profit motives to construct a case for the provision of warnings as a reasonable and obvious responsibility of pharmaceutical companies. The other speaker relies on separating practical from academic problems, and constructs the ‘academic’ question of serious side effects of SSRIs as a contentious and illegitimate concern in the public realm. The arguments employed by both opponents are discussed in terms of their rhetorical construction and social consequences.
Details
- Title
- ‘Now that's a fair dinkum academic debate, but this affects people's lives’: a discursive analysis of arguments for and against the provision of warnings about potential side effects of SSRIs in a public debate
- Authors/Creators
- A. Williams (Author/Creator)N. Donaghue (Author/Creator)
- Publication Details
- Critical Public Health, Vol.20(1), pp.15 - 24
- Publisher
- Taylor and Francis
- Number of pages
- 10
- Identifiers
- 991005540443007891
- Copyright
- Taylor and Francis
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Psychology
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
Metrics
36 Record Views
InCites Highlights
These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output
- Citation topics
- 6 Social Sciences
- 6.69 Language & Linguistics
- 6.69.610 Discourse Pragmatics
- Web Of Science research areas
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
- Social Sciences, Biomedical
- ESI research areas
- Social Sciences, general