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?

Children Misdiagnosed with ADHD

I just read that there was a judge who scolded psychiatrists for their all too ready diagnosis of ADHD in today's kids. It all blew up after a child, who was doing well at home, was diagnosed for ADHD at school. After the build up of a couple years of drugs in his system, the kid began using drugs and sexually assulted an elderly woman at a railway station.

The psychologist on the case says that because boy did not need the drugs, they would have had the same affect on him as early illegal use of the drug "speed". This indeed makes Ritalin a surefire gateway drug for those misdiagnosed with ADHD.

I find it amazing that people will still deny that Ritalin, in the Narcotics Schedule as speed, is not right for kids to take. Any thoughts?

Mad Driving Skillz? Not on Anti-Depressants

I just found out that Anti-depressants like Prozac and Zoloft affect driving skills negatively along with other coordinative skills and concentration. Another interesting side effect to spice up our lives. I wonder if all those commercials I've been seeing on TV about adult ADD have taken into account that some of those adults may simply be suffering from the side effects of anti-depressants.

New Warnings for Abilify

The FDA has issued changes to the Abilify box warnings. The box now warns of seizures and convulsions, head rushes and possible cognative and motor impairment. I just wanted to send out a little update on this, since the FDA doesn't let you know about this sort of thing unless you sign up for updates - which you can do here.

Check Out the Links

Wow! I found some great links to various blogs that have something to say about psychiatry. Check them out:

My brother works at a drug detox clinic and is often featured on a radio show about drugs. Check out what he has to say on his blog.

Sandy talks about what to do if your child has a chemical imbalance

Grahame talks about his views on psychiatry

The Alliance for Human Rights tells us about the ADHD Experts Meeting in Florida

Pharmalot posts an update on my previous post about army vets being use for drug experiments

Army Suicide Rate Increases

This article points out that an enormous amount of soldiers (a confirmed 108) have committed suicide in 2007. Ten times as many have attempted or thought about suicide. This has ranked suicide as the fourth leading cause of death in the army, exceeded only by hostile fire, accidents and illness.

Somehow, the additional 180 hired psychiatrists and psychologists along with added mental health screening has not handled the problem. It's only getting worse. It makes me wonder if the amount of army suicides are going up in relation to the amount of soldiers on psychiatric drugs. If soldiers are on SSRIs or other drugs that include suicide as a side effect, the psychiatrists hired could be part of the problem - not the solution.

I'd love my readers to keep their eyes and ears open for more data about this truly tragic epidemic that is happening in our military.

Reporting Side Effects Directly to the FDA

There is a 1800# and website to report adverse side effects of drugs to the FDA directly. The FDA currently is offering this information on print ads, but not on tv ads. This articles tells that the Consumers Union is now appealing to the FDA to get this information out in TV ads, along with the print ad campaign. They have compelling statistics - among those who take prescription drugs, one in six experienced a serious side effect. Only thirty-five percent of these people knew that you could report the side effect to the FDA directly. Eighty-one percent had seen or heard a drug ad in the last month, but ninety-one percent had seen this ad on tv. So, by putting this number on television ads, it would reach the majority demographic of prescription drug users.

The 1800# is: 1-800-FDA-1088 and the website to report side effects direct to the FDA is www.fda.gov/medwatch.

Shooting - Prozac Induced?

Decide for yourself, check out this article with the following in mind - Prozac is an SSRI with side effects of suicidal thoughts and violent behavior. SSRI withdrawl symptoms include the above two side effects as well.

Why do we have people on such destructive drugs? Aren't mental health experts supposed to be protecting society against those who would be dangerous to themselves and others - not causing depressed people to become dangerous to themselves or others via drugs?

What do you think?

Speaking up about Seroxat

Pharmalot has a fascinating post regarding a blogger who spoke up about Seroxat (also known as Paxil to us Yankees) and the company that makes Seroxat/Paxil (GlaxoSmithKline) and the company's head of psychiatry. Glaxo only paid attention to him once it seemed he might be defaming the head of psychiatry. The blogger did compare the head of psychiatry to Hitler (perhaps not the wisest move in the world) and accused him of covering up the issues that Paxil has had - like the side effects of suicidality, death, etc. The lawyers for GlaxoSmithKline sent the blogger this letter, and he did take down the video and the defaming statements. However, the video that caused all this controversy has spread around the Internet and can be viewed here:

Great Links about Psychiatry Part V

Here are another set of links about psychiatry:

PsychData reports That People with Dementia are Being Drugged Rather Than Helped

The Alliance for Human Research Protection reports on The Congressional Hearing for the Drugging of Children by Psychiatrists

A Clinical Psychiatry and Psychology reports on Who is Bankrolling the Medical Journals that Doctors Trust

Prozac Causes Depression posts about Anti-Depressants Killing Again

PsychWatch posts about What Sort of People Love Psychiatry

PsychData posts on What the Government is Doing about Psychiatrists Drugging Children

Schoolboy Suffers from Suicidal Side Effect of Ritalin

This article reports the tragic death of 15 year old Anthony Cole, who hung himself after being on Ritalin for 6 years. From the report, it seems like it was a premeditated suicide - days before his suicide he had asked about how to write a will and about life insurance, an hour before he was found dead he had cuddled his parents and told them that he loved them.

My heart goes out to his parents, his brother and sisters, his friends and extended family. I don't understand why parents are still allowing their children to take these drugs, I can only guess that it's because the side effects are not being taken seriously. They are very real and very serious.

If you know someone on Ritalin, please make sure they know the side effects and have fully evaluated their decision to take it.

Great Links About Psychiatry

Here's some great links I found this week:

Scientology Lives reports connections between school shooters and psychiatric drugs

DBunker reports that the FDA is cracking down on neighborhood pharmacies

Alliance for Human Research Project reports about Eli Lilly concealing information

Pharmalot reports that Eli Lilly should have warned the American people about Zyprexa back in 1998

Grahame reports about a new anti-depressant (called Placebozac) that has just come on the market *This one deserves a warning for excessive sarcasm*

Attention Deficit Disorder reports some interesting statistics about ADHD kids

PsychWatch reports 8 reasons to run from Anti-Depressants

FDA Approves Abilify for Kids

*Warning – Excessive Sarcasm*

Great, just what we need - another psychiatric drug. This one's even approve for kids. The FDA recently approved Abilify for "Pediatric Bipolar Illness".
The facts are these: The symptoms for "Pediatric Bipolar Illness" sound like the growing pains most children go through. Here are the symptoms, and you can decide:

- An expansive or irritable mood (so if the kid is overly happy or overly irritable, they are mentally ill)

- Extreme sadness or lack of interest in play (if the other kids hate him or her - or vice versa)

- Rapidly changing moods lasting a few hours to a few days (ever seen a kid go from 0-60 in 1.3 seconds when they are hungry or tired? Could it be that it's a deficiency in food or sleep?)

- Explosive, lengthy, and often destructive rages (No tantrums allowed!)

- Separation anxiety (You can't love your parents and be worried that the people who have been around you constantly for the past five or so years are now leaving you with strangers)

- Defiance of authority (You must all be mindless drones)

- Hyperactivity, agitation, and distractibility (If you don't understand what your teacher is saying, so you get bored or distracted, you must have a mental illness)

- Sleeping little or, alternatively, sleeping too much (Who judges what "sleeping too much or too little" is in a child?)

- Bed wetting and night terrors (You know when you watched Terminator the other night? You now have a mental disorder. Enjoy.)

- Strong and frequent cravings, often for carbohydrates and sweets (Have a sweet tooth?! You MUST be crazy)

- Excessive involvement in multiple projects and activities (Can you multi-task? Can't have that. You might grow up to be capable of thinking for yourself)

- Impaired judgment, impulsively, racing thoughts, and pressure to keep talking
dare-devil behaviors (You react to peer pressure? You want to find out how high you can climb up that tree? Nutcase)

- Inappropriate or precocious sexual behavior (Your parents were too embarrassed to explain what your body is or does, so you are trying to figure it out? or You react to peer pressure? Off to the nuthouse with you! or better yet, let's give you a drug to make it all better)

- Delusions and hallucinations (hmmm... can't do much commenting on that one)

- Grandiose belief in own abilities that defy the laws of logic (ability to fly, for example) ( I guess R. Kelly is mentally ill then) - Note, the first comment in parentheses is not mine, it is actually on the list of symptoms. My comment is the R. Kelly one.

Okay, I know that this post is far more sarcastic than what I've posted before, but it makes me so mad I could spit that the FDA would approve a drug to "cure" kids of some specious disease. Look at the side-effects this drug has:

- Extrapyramidal Disorder (common extrapyramidal disorders are diseases like Parkinsons and they often cause strokes). Five percent of people who take Abilify got extrapyramidal disorder.
- Thoughts of hurting yourself
- Restlessness
- Headache or Anxiety
- Seizures
- Urinating less than usual or not at all
- Jaundice
- Insomnia
- Jerky muscle movements you cannot control
- Nausea
- Drowsiness, Dizziness or Weakness
- Choking or trouble swallowing
- Feeling faint

The list goes on. Look over these side-effects and look what the drug is supposed to cure. Do they look similar to you? Would you put your child on a drug like this?
Also, does anyone know if any studies done or any proofs presented with regard their being a connection between childhood "mental illness" (which, as I said above, sound a lot like growing pains to me) and adult "mental illness"?

Great Links About Psychiatry

Here are some great links to start March out with:

Psychdata reports on the Mothers Act

The Alliance for Human Research Project reports on the Zyprexa saga

The Alliance for Human Research Project reports on Ablify

Attention Deficit Disorder reports on how to use vitamins to curb ADHD and ADD symptoms

Grahame reports that Prozac doesn't work

Psychwatch reports that 80% of suicides in Sweden are committed by people on anti-depressants

MSNBC reports on using psychiatry as punishment in Russia

DBunker reports on drug companies hiding the negative results of clinical trials (please note that DBunker's blog contains uninhibited terms and strong language.)

Scientology Against Drugs asks, is Bipolar Disorder real?

These are all very interesting articles. Check 'em out!

The FDA - A Step in the Right Direction

While it seems that anything the FDA does is based upon an imperfect system, there is a new effort being launched by the FDA to oversee the side-effects of prescription drugs. I believe (but this is unverified) that they might be making a data base of these side-effects available for consumer use, which would be incredibly beneficial.

So, pros:
a) A database with side-effect listed (yay!) so we don't all have to read ten pages of fine print when a drug is prescribed to us.
b) More oversite on prescription drugs so that things like the Zyprexa debacle aren't repeated.

Cons:
a) In usual FDA fashion, the new effort (called "Safety First") might be unwilling to pull a drug they have already approved.
b) They could get in cahoots with various drug manufacturers.

I say that this is a change for the better. The Pros are something new and the Cons are cons that have been around since the FDA's inception. What do you think?

Ritalin - Leading to Drug Abuse

Ritalin - also known (when abused) as "Kiddy Cocaine" is a highly addictive substance that can that can lead to substance abuse later in the user's life.

This drug that is supposed to "focus attention" by virtue of being a Schedule II narcotic (meaning in the same class as drugs like cocaine, morphine, methamphetamine, opium and others). So, of course it focuses attention - so does speed and cocaine. It's also highly addictive, like speed or coke.

Now, I highly doubt anyone would want to give cocaine or speed to their kid. So, why would they want to give Ritalin to their child?

The Lobotomist

There's a new PBS American Experience called "The Lobotomist" out. It's about Walter Freeman who is considered the father of the lobotomy. For those of you who don't know what a lobotomy is, it's basically a barbaric practice with very serious side effects in which the "doctor" (I'm sorry, but I can't bring myself to call someone a doctor who does this) takes an ice-pick like instrument and a mallet, and after knocking the victim out - usually by using electroshock treatment - inserts the ice-pick through the bone of your eye and slashes the lobes of the front of your brain. It's really disgusting and it's actually making my stomach turn just writing about it. Anyway, the PBS special is very interesting, check it out if you have the stomach for it.

FDA Looks as Clinical Trials

This International Herald Tribune article states that now the FDA is requiring many drugs be looked into to see if they have suicidality as a side-effect. This is really good news! If the FDA becomes more aware of what each drug on the market does, they have to publish that information for us non-government people.

Falling Out of Love - Yet Another Side Effect of Anti-Depressants

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (or SSRIs) are drugs like Zoloft and Prozac. These drugs have many side effects - they've had black box warnings put on them as these drugs have shown to increase suicidal tendencies in kids and teens. Now it's been found that it can cause people to no longer be in love with their significant other. This makes me wonder - if these anti-depressants make someone no longer in love with another person - what is there to prevent the drug from making the user fall out of love with other things? In my opinion, the opposite of being depressed is being happy. Would you be happy if a drug made you no longer love your significant other? Wouldn't that make you wonder if the drug was making you no longer love other things or activities that you used to enjoy? How does that make someone less depressed?

FoxNews Speaks Up Against Psychiatric Drugging of Children

FoxNews has a show called Hannity's America that aired about two weeks ago about teens and anti-depressants. Check it out.