it's really easy to get drugs in america?

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or does it just seem that way? I mean my friend (a 17 year old female from Michigan) literally went to the doctor once (and it wasn't a psychiatrist or anything) and got prescribed medication for depression straight away.

I was under the impression it was a lot harder than that here (UK), or am I wrong?

It depends on what drugs you're looking for, where you look, and how much you're willing to spend.

Right now, it seems that doctors pass out scrips for anti-depressants as often as Jehovah's Witnesses pass out tracts.

No, you're right. I quite literally had to be hospitalized before I was given any medication. And even now, I really have to argue with them beyond belief before they'll prescribe me anything.

Part of it is because drugs are more of a "market" than they are here. Here, you either get it free, or you pay the £7.85 regardless of how much the drug cost. There's no adverts on the TV advertising the latest antidepressant. If you google "the evils of big pharma" you'll come across a lot of American's convinced that, due to this reason, that mental illness is a conspiracy made up by the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry for profit.

I'm always hearing stories in the media from the states about how ridiculously simple it is for people to become drug addicts. They don't even have to go to some dealer that pushes the illegal stuff, all they have to do is make up stupid lies to their doctor. And because doctors in the states are mainly only in it for the money, they just write up a prescription for highly addictive painkillers and garbage for the imaginary illness. They only spend maybe two minutes with patients after making them wait for hours so it's like, whatever. Then the junkie goes to a different doctor to get more drugs. And then another. Where I live you're lucky to have even one doctor, so I don't get it. And then there are all the people who abuse OTC drugs like cough medicine. So easy for then to get it because it's legal. Well just because something is legal doesn't mean it's right. There are recipes for making your own homemade LSD and other stuff on the Internet. And every other commercial I see on American TV networks is for some stupid "Ask your doctor" drug for ailments, usually non-life-threatening, that have a long list of horrible, "possibly" fatal side effects. It drives me insane, and up here it's not much better. Also for years before my diagnosis with Asperger's psychiatrists would force me to take pills with all kinds of awful side effects, in an attempt to control my behavior. And whenever I saw them every few months the appointment was basically asking me if I was taking my meds, and when I said yes they would pretend to listen while failing miserably at it and then I'd be back out in the hallway and not see them for another three months. Because of this I have a profound dislike and mistrust in shrinks although the last two I've seen are fairly decent. At least I don't have to pay for my meds. It's terrible when people in the states can't afford medicine they do need, like insulin!

Prescription meds are pretty easy to get here in America if you go to a doc with a problem. However you may have to go through tests & may get referred to specialist & may not get the med or type you want & it can cost aLOT too but Obamacare is making things more affordable. We can also order prescription meds online from overseas without a script depending on what category of controlled substances it is; for example you can get antidepressants & antipsychotics but lots of sites won't sell benzopines & stimulants(like ADHD meds) are more illegal.

I had a meltdown in a doctor's office a while back, and he GAVE me a case of Wellbutrin. I didn't take even one pill... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellbutrin

Before Reagan closed the mental hospitals in America psychiatry was all about talking, and over a long period of time (often years) the doctor would really know your diagnosis, and he/she would slowly lead you into growing out of, or learning how to work around, your problems and anxieties. Patients always had to come back next week. You had to have insurance that covered the treatment, and most policies had a cap. The "doctors" would work with you UNTIL your policy collapsed. Then, after the psychiatric hospitals were shut down, psychiatrists started prescribing the new antidepressants, and, tranquilizers like Vallium, and Ritalin, speeds, and even quaaludes for a few crazy years. In the last 40+ years lots of new drugs have come along. The psychiatrists have 15 minute appointments all day long rewriting scripts for their patients. But in my opinion, once they have you in their practice, you never get better... you get managed... and also you get twisted into your own thinking, always watching yourself, and asking yourself, "How am I feeling?"