Increased use of Non-Prescription Ritalin by Students

An article came into my hand-dandy yahoo alerts that talked about usage of non-prescription Ritalin and Adderall. These are both schedule II drugs, in the same addictive category as PCP, cocaine opium and more.

The main stress of the article is on college students using these drugs to get through finals.  This not only builds an unhealthy study habit, it also makes drugs a solution to stress.  There are so many other solutions - like scheduling your life out, predicting what's coming up, making sure you are happy with what you are doing in life, etc.  

Why do you think kids in school are turning to drugs instead of managing their stresses with time-tested methods?  Are they lazy and want an easy way out?  Or is it that our society is fundamentally geared to think drugs will handle our problems?  Let me know what you think.

I'm Back

Hi! I know I've been off for a while, sorry. I have been working at getting a new job and all sorts of life stuff has been coming up. I'm back now though, so you should be getting semi-consistent posts from now on. :)

Just as a little tidbit, here's an interesting link: Military Suicide Rising. While some may say that the rate of military suicide is rising due to PTSD, I'd say there is more behind that. Obviously, I'm not a doctor, but here's my idea:

War is an awful thing. It certainly is extremely upsetting. So we are giving our military men and women - the people who are willing to give up their lives for us, we give them SSRIs and other drugs that deal in Serotonin reuptake. The majority of these drugs has suicide as a side effect.

While my opinions are anti-war, a part of my family has been heavily involved in the military since World War II. I respect and admire them and their bravery. It is extremely upsetting to me that we are allowing people who are willing to die for us and our country drugs that could make them kill themselves.

What do you think?

Zyprexa Reviewed for Children's Use

Zyprexa has come up a lot on this blog lately. It's come up again - an FDA Panel has been formed to review Zyprexa off-label use for children. Apparently Zyprexa is supposed to be prescribed for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but is often prescribed for off-label disorders such as dementia and mild bipolar disorder. Another off-label prescription has been for kids. The FDA Panel has been convened to see about adding side effect warnings specifically for kids - as Zyprexa has been known to cause diabetes and other blood-sugar disorders.

Eli-Lilly is apparently pushing the FDA to approve Zyprexa for children between 13-17. With the not-uncommon side effect of diabetes, I wouldn't want my kid on it.

New Video Presented by CCHR

There is a new video created by The Citizens Commission on Human Rights. It's really fascinating, so check it out.

Alternative Ways to Help Depression

This is a continuation of my last post about ways to handle depression without using drugs.

One of these ways was discovered using animal studies - which I am personally opposed to since I rather like animals and have a dog and a hamster. Nevertheless, it's interesting. Basically, this article talks about a process that was done to mice. The process shows that going to a place associated with happiness, or hearing music that was associated with happiness made the mice regain their will to live just as anti-depressants do. It seems to me that playing a little music that makes you happy or going to the park instead of taking anti-depressants would probably save a lot of money during these rough economic times.

Another article talks about the uses of St. John's Wort to battle depression. It has been proved effective, so that's another natural remedy to depression. I actually went to school with a girl who was getting over an eating disorder. She took St. John's Wort to handle her depression and it really worked.

If you read the article referred to in the previous post about zinc deficiency being a cause of depression, that's three natural tools to battle depression.

I think that's pretty darn neat! What about you?

Alternative Resources for Dealing with ADHD and Depression

My brother works for Novus Detox, which is a clinic that deals specifically with medical drug addiction. They wrote an article on a wonderful resource for handling ADHD and/or depression. Check it out, it's very informative.

News Link Roundup

I get various yahoo alerts about psychiatric drugs, FDA situations and drugs with suicidal side effects. Because of these and stuff people send me, I end up with way to many links to way to many interesting or horrifying stories. So, here's a big ol' round up.

Psychiatrist accused of tax evasion

Curbs sought on certain psychiatric drugs - in Kentucky

Eli Lilly settles with 33 states on Zyprexa fiasco

Anti-psychotics boost risk of stroke in patients with dementia

The omega-3 fatty acids you are eating for your heart may work for depression too

Food and it's correlation with suicide

Love and paying attention to children works better than pills

A ton of articles about over prescribing Ritalin

CCHR Public Service Announcements

New radio show about the mental health industry

Drug Companies Fess Up

In 2007, The New York Times published an article noting that some states would begin to require drug companies report the amount of money they pay to doctors to attend conferences, in gift form and as payment for doing seminars on the drug companies behalf. The legislation has largely been ignored by the behemoth companies, proving that age-old saying "Money talks, BS walks".

Now it looks as if Eli Lilly will be complying to these laws, as they are starting be be discussed on a national level.

Personally, I feel that Eli Lilly is simply pulling a PR stunt - saying "hey, don't look at us, we already comply to your rules", while still funneling tons of money into doctors to keep them talking about and prescribing their drugs. Really, the main benefit of the drug mammoth reporting what they are shelling out to whom is for the consumer, so they know in who's pocket their doctor resides.