My name is Savannah Milam (See left). I attend school at BASIS Scottsdale Charter School. One tradition at BASIS is the senior project, a research project spanning the entirety of the third trimester. For my research project, I have chosen to examine the effectiveness of psychiatric medications, specifically antidepressants and anti-anxiety pills. Antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication are some of the most prescribed psychiatric medications of the modern day. However, they are under great scrutiny despite, or perhaps because of, their popularity. In one corner, we have the reigning champion, psychiatry, and in the other, we have the opponent, anti-psychiatry advocates. Many people have claimed that medications to  treat depression and anxiety actually put sufferers in worst states than the original disorders ever did, due to intense side effects. The side effect lists simply go on and on, usually read too quickly to be fully understood. Anyone who has seen an antidepressant commercial is probably familiar with the main counter-intuitive side effect: increased suicidal thoughts and behavior. Decades ago, the psychiatry controversy primarily surrounded asylums and compelled institutionalization. Today, the main topic in question are the medicines actually being distributed. The controversy seems to come down to one simple question: are the drugs effective? However, this is not a question without nuances. Throughout this project, I will explore not only the basic scientific effects of each medication type but also the individual characteristics that might lead a psychiatrist to make a certain diagnosis for a particular patient. Medication is by no means a one-size-fits-all product and the implications of that fascinate me. I am especially interested in the medication controversy because my ambition is to become a psychiatrist myself. It is important to me that, before I begin to pursue the field of psychiatry in my college studies, I am confident that my work would benefit society.