SINCE 1993 ANTIPSYCHOTIC USE IN CHILDREN HAS SKYROCKETED BY 800%, IN TEENS BY 500%, AND IN ADULTS BY 200%!!!!!!!!!!
Prozac, the first smash hit in SSRIs in the US, hit the market the end of 1987. It quickly became common knowledge among psychiatrists that the drug rapidly triggered mania & many refused to prescribe it because of that. In fact I recall arguing with those who were proposing prescribing Lithium along with Prozac to guard against the manic reactions from Prozac. This practice is not safe due to the potential of Serotonin Syndrome when mixing the two drugs. Well somewhere along the years since then that information about the strong potential for SSRI or SNRI antidepressants to trigger mania seems to have been lost as far as doctor’s prescribing practices go.
Part of what happened was the Oprah Show in 1993 where Dr. Jim Goodwin was a guest who brought with him children he was treating with SSRIs. Dr. Goodwin became known as the Pied Piper of Prozac because he had openly stated that virtually all of his 800 patients were taking either Prozac or Paxil. From that point on the use of SSRIs in children skyrocketed. Doctors complained that women dragged their children to doctors’ offices quoting the Oprah Show & telling the docs to put their kids on antidepressants. Due to the strong potential of these drugs to induce psychosis, coupled with the children’s higher vulnerability to adverse reactions, it is easy to see why so many would become psychotic on the drugs, thus increasing the use of the antipsychotics.
In 2000 Dr. Malcomb Bowers led a study at Yale showing that 8% – 11% of those hospitalized in general hospital psychiatric wards were there due to antidepressant-induced psychosis labeled as Schizophrenia or Mania/Bipolar Disorder. The researchers were quick to point out in this study that the psychosis was so rarely recognized as being medication-induced that even they were shocked by what they found because they knew the true figure of those hospitalized for an antidepressant-induced psychosis should be expected to be FAR greater than the 8% – 11% they found. In fact this antidepressant-induced psychosis is so common that even Osama Bin Laden’s son was diagnosed schizophrenic & his doctors clearly stated it was due to his use of antidepressants! (Read his story here: www.ssristories.drugawareness.org/show.php?item=4348)
Now do I think it was “just a coincidence” that Eli Lilly & Pfizer first introduced Prozac & Zoloft, known to induce psychosis, & then the next mind altering medications they introduced to the market were Zyprexa & Geodon – the first two “new & improved” antipsychotics known as atypical antipsychotics? Because I was not born yesterday it was very clear to me that their plan was to provide new “treatments” for this whole new market their SSRIs were creating. The biggest problem with these new & improved antipsychotics is that they are serotonergic – almost like a mix of an SSRI antidepressant with an older antipsyhcotic. In fact the atypical antipsychotic, Symbyax, is a combination of Lilly’s Prozac & Lilly’s Zyprexa. (In fact this is one of the drugs little Gabriel Myers, the 7 year old foster boy in Florida, was taking when first threatened to kill another little 2 year old foster boy, then killed himself a week or two later while still in foster care.) Since manufacturers spend far more on marketing than they do research we see how well that worked for them as we look at the figures in this new study:
“Since 1993, the rate of antipsychotic drug prescribing to children increased by a factor of nearly eight, while prescribing to teens quintupled and in adults nearly doubled, according to a new study.”
The market created by their SSRI antidepressants was not big enough it seems as 2/3 of the prescriptions were given out off label (something for which the drugs were not approved) for ADHD. The companies have now paid out billions in fines to the government over the past few years due to that off label marketing for these atypical antipsycotics. As this TIME article points out below “every major manufacturer of atypical antipsychotics has been involved in the illegal marketing of the drugs” and “each ultimately paying hundreds of millions to billions in fines for their sales and marketing tactics.” (Of course any of us would go to prison for what they are being allowed to pay fines for …)
Read more of the TIME article here: http://healthland.time.com/2012/08/09/antipsychotic-prescriptions-in-children-have-skyrocketed-study/#ixzz25vn1ECiI
Ann Blake-Tracy, Executive Director,
International Coalition for Drug Awareness
www.drugawareness.org & www.SSRIstories.com
Author: “Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? – Our Serotonin Nightmare – The Complete Truth of the FullImpact of Antidepressants Upon Us & Our World” & Safe Withdrawal CD “Help! I Can’t Get Off My Antidepressant!”
BOOK: Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? – Our Serotonin Nightmare! Anything you ever wanted to know about antidepressants is there along with everything drug companies hope you never find out about these drugs. Find the book & the CD “Help! I Can’t Get Off My Antidepressant!” on how to safely withdraw from antidepressants & most psychiatric medications. Available at www.drugawareness.org
BOOK TESTIMONIALS:
“VERY BOLD AND INFORMATIVE”
“PRICELESS INFORMATION THAT IS GIVING ME BACK TO ME”
“THE ABSOLUTE BEST REFERENCE FOR ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS”
“WELL DOCUMENTED & SCIENTIFICALLY RESEARCHED”
“I was stunned at the amount of research Ann Blake-Tracy has done on this subject. Few researchers go to as much trouble aggressively gathering information on the adverse reactions of Prozac, Zoloft and other SSRIs.”
WITHDRAWAL HELP CD TESTIMONIALS:
“Ann, I just wanted to let you know from the bottom of my heart how grateful I am God placed you in my life. I am now down to less than 2 mg on my Cymbalta and I have never felt better. I am finally getting my life back. I can feel again and colors have never been brighter. Thanks for all that you do!!” … Amber Weber
“Used your method of weaning off of SSRI’s and applied it to Ambian. Took 6 months but had been on 15 mg for years so what was another 6 months. I have been sleeping without it for 2 weeks and it is the first time I have been able to sleep drug free for 15 years. What a relief to be able to lay down and sleep when I need or want to. Ambien may be necessary for people at times but doctors giving a months worth of it at a time with unlimited refills is a prescription for disaster. It is so damn easy to become dependent on. Thanks for your council Ann.”… Mark Hill
“I’m so thankful for Ann Blake-Tracy and all her work. Also for taking the time out to talk to me and educate everyone! She has been a blessing to me during this awful time of antidepressant hell!” … Antoinette Beck