Dr. Ann Blake Tracy

ANTIDEPRESSANTS CAUSE CRAVINGS FOR ALCOHOL!!!! [AM I SHOUTING? YES I AM SHOUTING!!! AND I HAVE BEEN SHOUTING THAT ANTIDEPRESSANTS CAUSE CRAVINGS FOR ALCOHOL FOR TWO DECADES!] LET ME REPEAT THAT: ANTIDEPRESSANTS CAUSE CRAVINGS FOR ALCOHOL!!!!!

Antidepressants cause this alcohol craving in several ways:

- by dropping the blood sugar
- by producing mania, one type of mania is known as “dipsomania” which is described as an “uncontrollable urge to drink alcohol”
- by increasing serotonin which has been shown in medical research to cause cravings for alcohol (see SSRIs & Alcoho at www.drugawareness.org)
________________________________

Paragraph four reads: “But an inquest heard he had secretly been battling depression after splitting with the mother of his daughter – and in the early hours of New Year’s Day he was found dead in his home in Mold, North Wales.”

Paragraph thirteen reads: “When their relationship broke down, he moved back into his family home where he began a course of anti-depressant drugs.”

Paragraph twenty reads: “Toxicology results showed he was more than three times the drink-drive limit. . . ”

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1267219/Robert-Gallagher-UK-Olympic-judo-hopeful-hangs-black-belt.html

Monday, Apr 19 2010 3PM

British judo star tipped for Olympic glory hangs himself with own black belt after breaking up with girlfriend
By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 1:39 PM on 19th April 2010

A British judo star tipped for success at the 2012 Olympics hanged himself with his own black belt after struggling to get over splitting from his girlfriend, an inquest heard.

Firefighter Robert ‘Robbie’ Gallagher, 23, was so talented in martial arts he was listed as one of the amateur sportsmen expected to shine during the London Olympics.

He was known across the Judo world for fighting in the 66kg weight category and was one of Britain’s top judo players in 2005, when he was in the British junior squad.

But an inquest heard he had secretly been battling depression after splitting with the mother of his daughter – and in the early hours of New Year’s Day he was found dead in his home in Mold, North Wales.

His father Robert Gallagher Snr, said: ‘We as a family are so saddened by Robbie’s untimely death and we miss him greatly.

‘He was into his judo and was a contender for the 2012 Olympic games and was a retained firefighter, hoping to have a future full-time in firefighting.

‘He had been a mischievous happy person and enjoyed his life. He wanted to achieve the very best.’

Mr Gallagher started judo when he was five before later taking up the sport at the highest level.

He was British judo champion three times and represented North Wales Fire and Rescue Service at the 2008 World Firefighting Games at the Echo Arena, Liverpool.

A British Judo Association spokeswoman said after his death: ‘British judo is extremely saddened by the loss of Robbie Gallagher.

‘A talented judo player, Robbie will be missed by players and coaches alike.’

An inquest heard last Friday how Robbie had been with girlfriend Sophie Bell-Halfpenny for four years, and together they shared a home and daughter Evie.

When their relationship broke down, he moved back into his family home where he began a course of anti-depressant drugs.

Miss Bell-Halfpenny told the hearing her former partner had threatened suicide on several occasions, explaining: ‘He once phoned me at 4am to say he had taken an overdose of sleeping tablets.

‘Then he came up to my house and and was waving his judo belts at me saying he was going to take his own life.’

The inquest in Mold heard how the judo ace had gone to a pub on New Year’s Eve to see in 2010 with some friends but had then gone back home to hang himself.

His father said he did not realise his son had returned home early until he went to have a cigarette outside shortly after midnight, and heard a noise from their garage.

He stepped inside and made the horrific discovery of his son hanging by his own judo belt.

A post-mortem examination revealed the father-of-one had died from asphyxia caused by hanging.

Toxicology results showed he was more than three times the drink-drive limit. He did not leave a note.

Recording a verdict of suicide, North East Wales coroner John Hughes, told the family: ‘I want to tell you how desperately sad I was to hear of your misfortune, especially as it was someone as young as your boy.’

After hearing of his death last January, a spokesman for his former school, Alun School, said: ‘We are very sad to hear this news.

‘He was a very outgoing character who was well liked by all the staff. He always had a big smile on his face.

‘We remember him fondly as a very fit lad, he could turn his hand to anything, but judo was his sport.

‘Robbie was one of the most gifted athletes we had at the school. He excelled at judo and represented Wales and the UK.

‘He was an excellent judo player and at one time he was in the top group for his age.’

This suicide is much too similar to little Gabriel Myers’ (7) suicide in Florida last year – while in the custody of CPS! He too was on similar medications when he impulsively hung himself with a shower hose in the bathroom.

Both types of medications have an FDA black box warning for suicide for this age group. WHY?!!! Want to talk about him being exposed to something toxic? This is it! Why as a society do we allow this to continue?!!! Why is it okay for doctors to give patients drugs that could cause suicide?

Here is the warning given for Strattera which is prescribed for ADHD. [And a similar warning was given to all antidepressant and mood stablizing medications (which Montana was also taking).]

9/05 From Web MD: “The FDA is advising health care providers and caregivers that children and adolescents being treated with Strattera should be closely monitored for worsening of symptoms as well as agitation, irritability, SUICIDAL THINKING OR BEHAVIORS, and unusual changes in behavior, especially during the initial few months of therapy or when the dose is changed (either increased or decreased).”

“THIS MONITORING SHOULD INCLUDE DAILY OBSERVATION BY FAMILIES AND CAREGIVERS AND FREQUENT CONTACT WITH THE PHYSICIAN, says the FDA.” [Emphasis added]

What kind of close monitoring is this when he hangs himself in a nurses office?! Why did none of the professionals working with Montana withdraw him from the medications which had been producing these suicidal thoughts for some time BEFORE he lost his life? I see these FAR TOO OFTEN and the children are getting younger and younger as those who should be caring for them ignore these strong FDA warnings that are the next closest thing there is to banning a group of drugs!

Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, Executive Director,
International Coalition for Drug Awareness

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/021710dnmetlancesuicide.12e83ee14.html?so=TimeStampAscending&ocp=5#slcgm_comments_anchor

Medical examiner confirms death of 9-year-old Colony boy was suicide

11:13 PM CST on Thursday, February 18, 2010

By WENDY HUNDLEY/The Dallas Morning News
whundley@dallasnews.com
The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office ruled Thursday that a 9-year-old boy from The Colony committed suicide.

Montana Lance
The determination rules out speculation that Montana Lance’s death was an accident.

Montana was found hanging in a bathroom at Stewart’s Creek Elementary School around 1 p.m. Jan. 21. He was taken to Baylor Medical Center at Carrollton, where he was pronounced dead.

Lt. Darren Brockway of The Colony police said the medical examiner’s ruling is consistent with police conclusions about the death.

“He’d gotten in trouble at school and panicked,” Brockway said. “He just felt there was no other way out.”

There had been speculation that Montana watched a television show about teen suicide the night before his death and was copying what he saw with no real intention to kill himself.

“We ruled that out as an option after talking to his parents,” Brockway said. “He didn’t watch that show.”

Also Online
01/25/10: Friends, family stunned by apparent suicide of 9-year-old boy

Link: Leave your condolences for the family of Montana Lance

Still, experts say children as young as Montana may not fully comprehend the consequences of their actions. A suicidal act may be a spur-of-the-moment act, like an outburst or a tantrum, they say.

“It was more of a conscious decision he made in a moment of high anxiety,” Brockway said.

A spokesman for the Lance family could not be reached for comment Thursday. A police report says Montana’s father had insisted the death was accidental.

Brockway said Montana had been upset on the day of his death after he was sent to the office for misbehaving in class. He locked himself in the school nurse’s restroom and didn’t come out.

After about 10 minutes, the nurse got a key to open the door and found the child unconscious.

Montana had attached the buckle of a brown cloth belt to a hook of a device used to help disabled people use the restroom, according to a police report. He was found with the belt around his neck with his feet off the floor. Police found no notes or messages.

He had been taking medication for mood swings and for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and had been having suicidal thoughts for about two years, the police report states.

In 2007, Montana’s parents, Jason and Debbie Lance, sought treatment for their son for ADHD.

In 2008, they told the doctor that the boy had been talking about committing suicide, and he was referred to a psychiatrist, according to the police report.

After Montana’s death, Child Protective Services opened an investigation to determine whether abuse or neglect were contributing factors.

That investigation has not been completed, but the family’s other two children have not been removed from the home, CPS spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales said.

Gonzales said CPS has had no prior involvement with the Lances and routinely investigates child fatalities.

With the medical examiner’s ruling, police plan to close their investigation with no charges filed, Brockway said.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/01/newport-beach-financier-danny-pangs-death-officially-suicide.html

Newport
Beach financier Danny Pang‘s death officially ruled a suicide

January 11, 2010 |  7:13 pm

The death of 42-year-old Newport
Beach financier Danny Pang has officially been ruled a suicide caused by the
combined effect of seven drugs, the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner’s Department
has determined.

Pang was found unconscious Sept. 11, 2009, in his
Newport Beach home and was taken to Hoag Hospital, where he died the next day.

His death came less than two months after an Orange County federal grand
jury accused Pang of concealing more than $300,000 from the government. The FBI
also alleged he stashed gold bullion in a hidden safe.

Pang was also
facing an SEC lawsuit for allegedly misappropriating millions of dollars from
investors through his company Private Equity Management Group Inc. in Irvine.

He denied any wrongdoing and was free on a $1-million bond at the time
of his death.

Supervising Deputy Coroner Kelly Keyes said the following
drugs were found in Pang’s system: citalopram (antidepressant), dihydrocodeine
(pain reliever), hydrocodone (pain reliever), lorazepam (anti-anxiety
medication), oxycodone (pain reliever), oxymorphone (pain reliever) and THC
(ingredient in marijuana).

Pang first made headlines in 1997 when his
wife, a former stripper, was shot to death in their home. No one has been
convicted of the crime.

– Corina Knoll

http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/4776800.Man_s_death_forced_change_in_police_policy/

Man’s death forced change in police policy

9:10pm
Thursday 3rd December 2009

By Ben Perrin »

POLICE changed their policy for assessing the risks prisoners pose to
themselves after a Swindon man killed himself less than two hours after leaving
their custody, an inquest heard.

Michael Spencer of Grantham Close,
Freshbrook, told officers at Gablecross Police Station he was suicidal after he
assaulted wife Wendy at their West
Swindon home, Oxfordshire Coroner’s Court heard.

This suicidal fact
was logged onto his custody record which was placed in a red folder to signify
he was a vulnerable person, Oxfordshire Coroner Nicholas Gardiner said.

Depressed Spencer, 39, who had overdosed on painkillers and also
self-harmed in the weeks leading to his death, was placed in a cell monitored by
CCTV.

The dad-of-two was charged with common assault and released on
police bail at 2pm on July 16, in 2006.

No health care professional was
called to assess his state of mind as custody sergeants and detention officers
said he was “quiet” and “compliant” and didn’t cause them any welfare concerns.

But by 3.45pm he was run over and killed on the A420 near Shrivenham,
said Mr Gardiner.

Now a pre-release risk assessment sets out more
rigidly the questions custody staff need to ask if a prisoner is considered a
threat to himself, said Duty Inspector Antony Ducker of Swindon Police.

This comes after Mr Ducker reviewed the process by which prisoners are
released from police custody.

Giving evidence yesterday, he said: “There
has been an overwhelming increase in the number of referrals to the healthcare
profession in the amount of people who make indications of self-harm and
suicide.

“So much so this was causing financial strain.

“The
questions on the pre-release risk assessment are set. It asks the detainees how
they are feeling.

“It forces one’s hand to ask – Nothing is overlooked.”

This was done in paper form before being transferred to the computer
system, added Mr Ducker.

Custody Sergeant Julian Law described Spencer
as “unremarkable” who gave him “no concerns” while he was in custody.

Mr
Law admitted he didn’t know it was an obligation of his role to read prisoners’
custody records as this had not been made clear during his training.

When asked if he should have read it by solicitor Sean Horstead,
representing Mrs Spencer, Mr Law replied: “In hindsight yes.”

He also
said it didn’t think Spencer was confused by the bail conditions set out to him
as this was Spencer’s first time in custody.

These were that he couldn’t
see his wife Wendy, he couldn’t pass any messages on to her through friends and
family and he could make one visit home but this had to be with a police
officer.

These conditions had to be adhered to before Spencer attended
court.

Mr Law told Spencer his brother-in-law Michael Titcombe had rung
for him and passed on his phone number.

But he said Spencer didn’t ask
to call Mr Titcombe, who rang the station earlier that day to warn police
Spencer was “unstable”.

Mr Law said Spencer hadn’t been confused in
thinking the bail conditions meant he wasn’t allowed to talk to any family
members.

Had he asked to use the phone then Mr Law said he would have
allowed it and Spencer could have arranged to be collected by Mr Titcombe from
Gablecross.

Spencer’s antidepressant medication were not recorded on his
custody records, it also emerged. Detention officer Stewart Wakeman said was an
“oversight.”

The inquest continues on Tuesday next week.

“Some of Singh’s friends in the bureaucracy are
still shocked over the death.  ‘Harminder Raj Singh was of the type
who would have definitely left behind something in black in white,’
asserted a close friend who prefers anonymity. Singh’s body was cremated in
Delhi Monday afternoon.”

http://blog.taragana.com/n/uttar-pradesh-ias-officer-was-depressed-before-suicide-237704/

Uttar Pradesh IAS officer was depressed before suicide

By IANS
November 30th, 2009

LUCKNOW – Mystery continues to
surround the suicide by Uttar Pradesh IAS officer Harminder Raj Singh two days
after he allegedly shot himself dead with his licensed revolver. He was on
anti-depressants for the past six months, sources close to the family
said.

Some of Singh’s friends in the bureaucracy are still shocked over
the death. “Harminder Raj Singh was of the type who would have definitely left
behind something in black in white,” asserted a close friend who prefers
anonymity. Singh’s body was cremated in Delhi Monday afternoon.

While
sources close to the family said he was on anti-depressants for the past six
months, it was not clear what caused him depression necessitating regular
medication.

The Uttar Pradesh IAS Association held a condolence meeting
here Monday afternoon and paid rich tributes to Singh.

Asked if the
stress level of bureaucrats had been on the rise, association secretary Sanjay
Bhoosreddy said, “Well, stress is nothing unusual for any bureaucrat and we have
even conducted yoga camps in the past to help colleagues from getting over
stressed. But I feel there is need for more such stress management programmes
for all bureaucrats.”

Animal lover took own life after party

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Castleford-Bullied-teen-hangs-himself.5861951.jp

Castleford: Bullied teen hangs himself

Published
Date: 26 November 2009
A bullied Castleford teenager was found hanged at
his home with lyrics from a hardcore rock song scrawled on his arm.
Tragic
Dean Booth, 18, was found by his horrified mum hanging from a loft hatch. He had
placed a computer cord around his neck.

From the age of 15 he was
tormented by school bullies and developed depression and anger management
issues.

Speaking at an inquest into his death, grieving mum Margaret said
she believed this was a cry for help and he had not intended to kill
himself.

The trainee auctioneer, from Castleford had written the words
‘Bestrafe Mich’ – German for ‘Punish Me’ on his arms – lyrics from German rock
band Rammstein.

The hearing at Wakefield Coroner’s Court on Wednesday
heard he had tried to hang himself on several previous occasions, and even tried
to hurl himself in front of cars to escape his tormentors.

Margaret’s
statement read: “Since earlier this year, he had started scratching his arm,
causing superficial marks. About a week before he died he injured his arm with a
nail gun. I couldn’t say whether this was intentional or an
accident.

“This was a cry for help rather than intending to take his own
life.”

She added he had been singled out by bullies at Castleford High
School. On September 15, they had visited a takeaway before going to bed at
11.30pm. She found him hanging at 6.30am the next morning.

Dean was
receiving psychiatric help and was taking anti-depressants. He had also become
further depressed after a friend of his, a landlord at a local pub whom he
confided in, had hung himself last November.

A post-mortem examination
found he had 121mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood, which would have had a
“significant effect on his moodset and cognitive skills”.

Recording an
open verdict, Coroner Mary Burke said: “His past attempts to harm himself had
always followed the use of alcohol. In May there was an incident when he had
been out drinking and tried to jump in front of cars.

“His response when
asked why he had done this is that he had no memory of doing it. So at the time,
and subsequently, he didn’t realise what he was doing.

“Clearly he was
under the influence of alcohol on the day of his death. Based on the evidence I
am not clear or sure what Dean’s intentions were at the time and I’m certainly
not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Dean intended to take his own
life.”

Page 1 of 1

Fay Turner died
aged just 20 in July after a row with her ex-boyfriend.

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/districtnews/4763545.___Dark_moods____of_overdose_former_pupil/

‘Dark moods’ of overdose former pupil

11:50am Friday
27th November 2009

A FORMER Bolton School pupil who suffered from “dark
moods” took a fatal overdose of anti-depressants, an inquest heard.

Fay Turner died aged just 20 in July after a row with her ex-boyfriend.

The overdose of prescribed medication was the latest in a number taken by Miss
Turner, who had a history of mental health illnesses including anorexia and
depression.

Miss Turner’s father, Philip Turner, of Andrew Lane, Bolton,
described his daughter as a bright girl.

In her early teens she
developed anorexia and was referred to the mental health services for help.

But she left the private school with good GCSE
results, he added.

Mr Turner said: “She was complex, she was very
bright, very perceptive. She did have image problems but at the same time she
was very gregarious and popular.”

Miss Turner dropped out of Turton

School sixth form after doing the first year of her A-level course after her
“mental health deteriorated”.

At the time of her death, she was an art
student at Bolton Community College, with aspirations to go to university to
become a primary school art teacher.

But the inquest heard she would
react to problems in an “impulsive and spontaneous” way and had on previous
occasions called an ambulance after taking an overdose.

On July 20, Miss
Turner was living in Rutland Drive, Bolton, after splitting from her boyfriend,
Ashley Smith, aged 20.

On that day they had a row and, he told the
inquest, he left to go for a walk.

When he arrived back at Rutland Drive
he found empty tablet packets on the floor. He said that when Miss Turner came
downstairs she was acting “really weird, slurring her words and stopping and
starting sentences”.

She tried to call for an ambulance, but Mr Smith
stepped in and called the emergency services himself. Miss Turner died later in
hospital.

Assistant deputy coroner Peter Watson, recording an open
verdict, was “not satisfied” she intended to take her life when she took the
overdose.

He added that despite support from her family, Miss Turner
“acted impulsively and spontaneously to problems that confronted her” when
suffering from “dark moods”.

schaudhari@ theboltonnews.co.uk

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_163177.asp

Roy Exum: A Suicide Is Foiled
by Roy Exum
posted November 15,
2009

Roy Exum
Glenn Richardson is the Speaker of

the House in the Georgia legislature. He has been elected to represent those in
the Dallas/Hiram part of the state seven straight times and, when he became

Speaker in 2003, he was the first Republican chosen since Reconstruction.
Earlier this year, he was unanimously chosen as the legislature’s leader for the
third straight time.

In short, he doesn’t fail at many things, but a week
ago he tried to commit suicide. Because of quick action by emergency teams in

Paulding County, his life was spared and, in a moving story that appeared in
Saturday’s Atlanta newspaper, he courageously admitted he fights severe
depression and will use the near-tragedy to better suicide prevention.

His was hardly a publicity stunt or a novel way of attracting
voters. He doesn’t need that. But the anguish in his coming forward, readily
admitting his human flaw, shows that if depression can lay its thick and
suffocating blanket on state legislator Glenn Richardson, it can be a very black
cloud over any of us.

“While depression often seems to be resolved on
occasion, when personal trials or tribulations arise, it flares back up,”
Richardson said in his public statement. “That is what occurred with me. My
depression became so severe that I took substantial steps to do harm to myself
and to take my own life. I am thankful that because of medical intervention I
have instead been able to now receive help and support.”

A couple of

years ago Richardson and his wife were divorced in a high-profile case of a
marriage that was “irretrievably broken.” The couple has three children and
apparently Glenn has never shaken the pain of the divorce. Anyone who has ever
gone through a divorce can understand that, most especially if grief-stricken
children are watching.

“I ask that the media use discernment if they
report this and remember my friends and family who are also hurting,” his
statement read. “I fully believe this has and will continue to push me to find
my best self and use my position of leadership to raise awareness and let others
know they are not alone. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.”

Sure,
he had been under a doctor’s care, taking medication, but apparently “the black
dog,” as Winston Churchill once called depression, started howling so fiercely
last Sunday that one of Georgia’s top legislators couldn’t silence it. Those who
suffer from depression are the first to know it is hardly a simple
disease.

So instead of giving in to the problem and giving up his
standing in the Georgia House after Sunday night’s scare, Glenn is now going
“public,” urging others to “stay in the game” rather than commit what has been
called “life’s most selfish act” because suicide leaves so many living victims

in its wake.

Both Republicans and Democrats applauded his courage Friday.
Speaker Pro Tem Mark Burkhalter (R-Johns Creek), called Richardson a “brilliant
political leader and dear friend.”

“Most importantly, each of us is
praying for him and his family,” Burkhalter told newspaper reporters. “His
willingness to share this difficult experience clearly demonstrates his amazing
courage. Speaker Richardson is a true champion, and we in the House of

Representatives look forward to his continued leadership and
recovery.”

DuBose Porter (D-Dublin) is the House Minority leader and
added his “thoughts and prayers are with Glenn and his family. I am glad he
sought the help that he needed to. People need to know many people suffer from
depression and there is help that can be provided for that. I am thankful he got
the help he needed.”

So the lesson is not to point out how the strong
have fallen, but rather that those who suffer are not alone. There is help
available no matter where you are, who you are, or how insignificant the disease
might tend to make you feel you are.

The bottom line is that somebody
needs each of us. In the state of Georgia literally millions rely on Glen
Richardson’s wisdom and leadership. He’ll be the first to tell you today that no
matter how black the darkness may be, there is a way out of the maze of severe
depression if you’ll call on others to hold your hand until the professionals
who walk among us can cease its trembling.

Thank God that is what Glenn
Richardson did just last
Sunday.

royexum@aol.com

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~neotoe/obits/index.htm

Mahlon R. Wolfe (Feb. 17, 1976 – Sept. 24, 2004)

Mahlon R. Wolfe, age 28, Avoca, died Friday, Sept. 24, 2004, at Avoca. He
was born Feb. 17, 1976, at Auburn, Ind., son of Michael G. and Margaret
(Householder) Wolfe. He married Roseann Groleau May 22, 1999, at Nebraska City.
He was preceded in death by his maternal grandfather, Harold Householder, and
his paternal grandmother, Dorcas D. Wolfe. Services are at 1 p.m., Tuesday,
Sept. 28, 2004, at Fusselman-Wymore Funeral Home Chapel at Weeping Water. Bishop
Pat Herrick of the Church of Latterday Saints, Nebraska City, will officiate.
Cremation will follow the service.
Source: Nebraska City News-Press ,
Sept, 2004.

Those in the psychiatric community report that 75% of those doctors and nurses they work with are on antidepressants as well. Drug reps are telling them they are in a very stressful profession and sooner or later will need to start on antidepressants so they may as well start now! So chances are high that the therapist was also on medication leading to the affair.
_______________________________

Paragraph 8 reads: “In February 2009, after the therapist broke up with the victim, the woman tried to commit suicide while sitting in her car in Meriden, swallowing numerous anti-depression pills. But, she changed her mind after looking at a picture of her young child, according to the warrant.”

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/10/29/news/shoreline/a1_–_therapist.txt

Therapist faces sex assault charges in affair with patient (with document)
Published: Thursday, October 29, 2009

By Susan Misur, Register Staff

GUILFORD ­ After allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with a depressed and suicidal patient for more than a year, a New Haven-based therapist was arrested this week on a sexual assault charge, police said Wednesday.

Alan M. Shulik, a 58-year-old town resident, turned himself in to police Monday, and is accused of second-degree sexual assault, Chief Thomas Terribile said. The victim reported the incident Aug. 31.

Shulik met the victim when she and her husband went to Shulik for marriage counseling in Shulik’s New Haven office, Bishop Street Counseling. The Cheshire couple attended four to five sessions together, and Shulik requested the husband and wife come separately to appointments, according to Shulik’s arrest warrant.

He soon told the victim that she should e-mail him daily with her feelings about her marital situation, and he would tell her she was “wonderful and beautiful and her husband was not good to her,” the arrest warrant says. It adds that Shulik found the woman to be clinically depressed and sent her to a psychiatrist for medication.

The woman told Shulik she was beginning to have feelings for and becoming dependent on him, and at a mid-June 2008 therapy session, Shulik “had her sit on his lap, holding her hands, hugging and kissing her,” the warrant continues.

Shulik said he was ending their patient-doctor relationship, and the two started dating in late June 2008, frequently calling, texting and e-mailing each other, and having intercourse at Shulik’s Durham Road home. Shulik allegedly told the victim he would break up with his girlfriend so they could be together and get married, the warrant says.

The pair would meet two to three days a week for intercourse at Shulik’s home and office, and also traveled to Boston, New York City and Meriden to have sex in hotels, the warrant reads.

In February 2009, after the therapist broke up with the victim, the woman tried to commit suicide while sitting in her car in Meriden, swallowing numerous anti-depression pills. But, she changed her mind after looking at a picture of her young child, according to the warrant.

When she saw Shulik in May, they began having sex again, but in August, he sent her a text message to say he was out of the state and newly married to his girlfriend. A few days into his marriage, Shulik sent another text message the victim to say he loved her, the warrant says.

In late August, the two saw each other again, but when the victim saw Shulik with another woman at his home, she decided to report him to police.

The warrant provides therapy notes from the victim’s new therapist that say Shulik “violated her trust by having a sexual and romantic relationship with her … he has devastated this family.”

The warrant says Shulik went to police Oct. 12 and voluntarily told them he had had a consensual sexual relationship with the victim. Terribile said the investigation continues, and police are documenting the trips and hotel visits with receipts.

Second-degree sexual assault is defined as a situation in which a psychotherapist and a patient engage in sexual intercourse during a psychotherapy session; a patient or former patient is emotionally dependent on the psychotherapist; or the patient or former patient have sexual intercourse by means of therapeutic deception.

Shulik was released on a promise to appear and is scheduled to be in court Tuesday.

A message left for Shulik at his office was not returned Wednesday.

Susan Misur can be reached at 789-5742 or smisur@nhregister.com.

http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-health-news/2009/10/29/redditch-mother-to-take-somerset-nhs-trust-to-court-over-daughter-s-suicide-65233-25039846/

Redditch mother to take Somerset NHS Trust to court over daughter’s
suicide

Oct
29 2009 by John Marsden, Birmingham Post

A mother is set to take legal action against a hospital trust she claims
failed to spot her daughter’s mental illness that resulted in her
death.

Beautician Tracy Thomas was left devastated when her oldest
daughter, Kimberley, hanged herself in her bedroom just two weeks before
Christmas.

She claims Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust failed to
help 25-year-old Kimberley after she repeatedly threatened to commit suicide

when she moved to the region in 2004.

Mrs Thomas, who lives in Redditch,
Worcestershire, with her three children, said Kimberely had been suffering from
Bi-Polar Disorder.

Despite Kimberley’s plea for help, Mrs Thomas said
doctors did not see her as a threat to herself.

And she said they put her
on a course of Fluoxetine – an anti-depressant which has been linked in some
instances with side effects which can lead to patients wanting to commit
suicide.

Mrs Thomas said: “If Kim had been in Worcestershire I’m sure she
would have been sectioned and been given 24-hour care.

“But doctors in
Somerset didn’t want to know. They were more concerned with transferring
resources elsewhere.

“They simply failed to see the gravity of her
illness. Of course I want an apology from the hospital but no words or money
will ever bring my daughter back.”

Mrs Thomas has now approached Irwin
Mitchell solicitors and said she intends to sue the Trust for negligence. She
has also set up a Facebook website called Survivors of Family and Friends to
Suicide, in a bid to help people who have been affected by similar
tragedies.

A spokesman for Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
said: “We offer our condolences to Mrs Thomas for the tragic death of her
daughter.

“The Trust would refute any suggestion that we were negligent
or failed to diagnose Kimberley correctly.

“We will defend ourselves
against any legal action taken against us.”

In April, an inquest heard
how former Debenhams employee Ms Thomas, of Winchester Street, Taunton, hanged
herself after a series of relationships broke down. Somerset Partnership NHS
Foundation Trust received an excellent rating from the Care Quality Commission
for its treatment of mentally ill patients last year.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1223333/Husband-blames-Lloyds-wifes-suicide-bank-pulls-family-firms-overdraft.html

Husband blames Lloyds for wife’s suicide after bank pulls family firm’s
overdraft

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/PRP-activist-jumps-in-front-of-train/articleshow/5137281.cms

‘PRP activist’ jumps in front of train

TNN 19
October 2009, 03:15am IST

HYDERABAD: A 42-year-old engineer, who
claimed to be a PRP activist, committed suicide by throwing himself in front of
a train near Sanatnagar railway station on Sunday morning.

A BE
graduate, Ajay of Tanuku in West Godavari district was jobless for the past nine
years, Nampally GRP constable S Madhava Rao said. He was in a state of
depression and was undergoing medication.

On October 13, Ajay came to
his brother Vijay’s house in Kukatpally. Since then, he had been staying with
either his brother or his co-brother Mallikarjun in Kukatpally.

On
Saturday at about 7 pm, Ajay left his co-brother’s house saying that he would go
to a friend’s house. Later in the night, Ajay made a phone call to his
co-brother and told him that he was going to commit suicide.

“Mallikarjun, Vijay and his brother Nani rushed and searched on the
railway tracks around Hi-Tec City but could not find him,” the constable said.

On Sunday at about 7 am, police got information about the body on the
railway tracks near the Sanatnagar railway station.

Police found a
suicide note in the wallet of the victim. It said: “I am committing suicide as
it is hard for me to adjust in society. I am jobless and there is no respect for
me here. I had worked with PRP and during that time suffered a leg injury. I am
still suffering due to the injury due to which I am in financial troubles and
decided to commit suicide.”

Ajay is survived by his wife and 10-year-old
son. A suspicious death case was registered under section 174 of CrPC.

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/brevard_news/091409_assisted_suicide_charge

Brevard man charged with assisted suicide

Updated:
Tuesday, 15 Sep 2009, 12:23 AM EDT
Published : Monday, 14 Sep 2009, 5:15 PM
EDT

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) – A Brevard County man has been

charged with assisted suicide after police say he helped his wife kill herself.
Investigators say this is one of the more bizarre cases they’ve ever
seen.

A 4-year-old child was left without his mom after she took her own
life and now he could lose his father too. Kevin Ragan was arrested for helping
his wife commit suicide.

In the frantic 911 call he told a dispatcher his
30-year-old wife was depressed and had been drinking. He says she threatened to
kill herself and admits offering her some loaded guns.

Ragan on 911 Call:
“I was being a smart a** and threw like three guns on the bed. I’m like, then do
it. And, she just picked the 40 caliber hand gun up.”

The rest of the 911
call on that sad day is too graphic to air, a distraught Ragan crying and asking
for an ambulance.

Deputies say Ragan and his wife were having marital
problems and his wife was on anti-depressants. She was pronounced dead at the
hospital.

Now more than three months later, after deputies got
confirmation from the medical examiner that the death was in fact a suicide,
they charged Ragan with assisting a suicide. He was arrested and bonded
out.

No one was home on Monday when a FOX 35 crew went to the Ragan home
but neighbors say they are stunned.

FOX 35 checked and found that Ragan
has no criminal history in Brevard
County.

Paragraphs 20 through 23 read:  “But in 2004, they began to
notice troubling signs. Arylane Ala said her son always wore black and went on
binges with vitamins, nutritional supplements and workouts. Sometimes he
would hide, saying he heard helicopters. And he would get
extremely agitated while driving, occasionally slamming his car
into park, and running away, disappearing for hours or even
days.

In June 2005, Ala was hospitalized at the Louisville
VA Medical Center and diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which the
VA later ruled service-connected, which made him eligible for financial
benefits.

He was prescribed lithium, but his parents said he sometimes
skipped his medication. At nursing school, he highlighted passages about bipolar
disorder in his psychiatry textbook, writing “me” in the
margins.

Finally, after a fight with his fiancee that resulted in her
obtaining an emergency protective order against him, Bryan Ala went to his
parents’ home. The Alas said he promised not to do anything rash. But after they went to work on Aug. 10, 2007, he took a rifle from
under his father’s bed and ended his life.

SSRI Stories note:

Antidepressants Can Cause Bipolar Disorder to Develop.  This is
stated in many scientific studies.  Bipolar Disorder Can Contribute to
Suicide.

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090913/NEWS01/909130330

Suicide takes growing toll among military, veterans

By Laura Ungar • lungar@courier-journal.com •
September 13, 2009

As soon as Arylane Ala walked into her house that day
in 2007, she saw blood ­ a red pool stretching from the coffee table to the
fireplace. Then she saw her youngest son face down on the floor, an antique
rifle by his side.

She didn’t approach his body, she said: “I didn’t
want to see his face … his expression.”

Four tumultuous years after
serving in the Middle East with the Kentucky Air National Guard, 25-year-old
Bryan Ala of Louisville took his life ­ part of a rising number of military
and veteran suicides as the Iraq war continues and fighting intensifies in
Afghanistan.

“Life goes on after you lose a child,” said Bryan’s father,
Rich, 60. “But sweet is never as sweet as it was. The sun’s never as bright.
I’ve got a hole in my heart that will never heal up.”

The federal
government estimates that 5,000 veterans commit suicide each year, and Dr.
Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said suicides
among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans could top combat deaths.

He made the
statement last year at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric
Association and cited a study by Rand Corp., a nonprofit research organization,
showing as many as 20 percent of veterans returning from these conflicts will
suffer major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, and seven in 10 won’t
seek help from the departments of Defense or Veterans Affairs.

The toll
is also rising in the active military, with the Army reporting the most
confirmed suicides ­ 140 last year. Locally, Fort Knox reported five
confirmed suicides in 2008 and 2009. Fort Campbell reported 24 suspected or
confirmed suicides in the same period and in late May suspended regular duties
for everyone for three days so commanders could better help soldiers at
risk.

Driving these numbers are pre-existing mental illnesses,
post-traumatic stress disorder and relationship or financial problems worsened
by long or repeated deployments, say mental health experts, who also point to
the stigma against seeking help in a culture known for toughness.

Many
families and veterans organizations argue that more needs to be done to stop the
deaths. And military and Veterans Affairs officials say they are taking the
problem seriously, beefing up mental health resources and suicide prevention
programs.

“We’ve got to hit it head on,” said Maj. Gen. Donald Campbell,
Fort Knox commander.

In July, Fort Knox played host to Maj. Gen. Mark
Graham of Georgia and his wife, Carol, who told a standing-room-only crowd about
the 2003 suicide of their son Kevin, 21.

The ROTC cadet at the University
of Kentucky suffered from depression before his sister found him hanged from a
bedroom ceiling fan. The Grahams, who have made military suicide prevention a
personal cause, shared Kevin’s story before attending a ceremony dedicating a
building to their other son, Jeffrey, who was killed in action in Iraq in
2004.

“We lost two sons,” said Mark Graham, who spoke again on Aug. 21 in
Frankfort. “Both our sons died fighting different
battles.”

History of mental illness

Mental illness also proved
too strong an enemy for Bryan Ala.

Growing up, he was adventurous and
loved caving, rock-climbing, fishing and going to the shooting range with his
father, a Vietnam vet. At 18, Bryan Ala joined the Air National Guard to help
pay for college, later enrolling in the University of Louisville’s nursing
school.

Depression first struck in the summer of 2002, and Ala admitted
himself to Ten Broeck Hospital, now called The Brook. He was prescribed an
anti-depressant, his parents said, and later in the year saw a doctor at Fort
Knox who determined he was fit to stay in the Guard. He was deployed the next
year to the Middle East.

Capt. Stephanie Fields, deputy state surgeon for
the Kentucky National Guard, said soldiers are not deployed if they have been
diagnosed with depression less than three months earlier because the soldier
needs to show stability. But otherwise, she said, decisions are made on a
case-by-case basis, according to Army policy, by a treating physician who
consults with the soldier‘s commander. If they are deemed too ill to deploy, she
said, they may still be able to stay in the Guard. Fields said soldiers have two
mental health evaluations before deployment.

Rich Ala said he worried
that serving abroad might aggravate his son’s depression, but didn’t say
anything because he figured his son was an adult who could take care of himself.

Bryan Ala spent six months as a medic in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates and Qatar, where his job was to care for an air crew and help at a
military field hospital. He didn’t talk much with his family about what he saw
during his tour, beyond the different cultures and the harsh conditions of a
desert tent encampment.

Back in the United States, he served another six
months as a medic with a hospital group at the Kentucky Air National Guard base
in Louisville, and his parents said everything seemed fine.

But in 2004,
they began to notice troubling signs. Arylane Ala said her son always wore black
and went on binges with vitamins, nutritional supplements and workouts.
Sometimes he would hide, saying he heard helicopters. And he would get extremely
agitated while driving, occasionally slamming his car into park, and running
away, disappearing for hours or even days.

In June 2005, Ala was
hospitalized at the Louisville VA Medical Center and diagnosed with bipolar
disorder, which the VA later ruled service-connected, which made him eligible
for financial benefits.

He was prescribed lithium, but his parents said
he sometimes skipped his medication. At nursing school, he highlighted passages
about bipolar disorder in his psychiatry textbook, writing “me” in the
margins.

Finally, after a fight with his fiancee that resulted in her
obtaining an emergency protective order against him, Bryan Ala went to his
parents’ home. The Alas said he promised not to do anything rash. But after they
went to work on Aug. 10, 2007, he took a rifle from under his father’s bed and
ended his life.

Combat haunts vet

Psychologist Lanny Berman,
executive director of the American Association of Suicidology in Washington,
D.C., said the military generally does a good job screening out people with
severe mental conditions.

But he said many soldiers suffer pre-existing
depression or develop mental illness during or after service ­ magnifying
everyday stresses and compromising already disrupted relationships.
(4 of 4)

Berman, who serves on a federal task force to prevent military suicides,
said the Iraq and Afghanistan wars pose the particular challenges of long tours
and close-range combat, and many veterans suffer post-traumatic stress
disorder.

Army Sgt. Cecil Harris of Pikeville, Ky., was one of them.
After serving in Iraq in 2003, he was flown to Germany with respiratory
problems, severe headaches and a bacterial illness, said his mother, Sharon
Harris of Louisville.

But long after the physical healing began, she
said, his combat memories haunted him, and he was diagnosed with PTSD at the
Lexington VA hospital.

In May of this year, in the midst of a divorce, he
called his mother in Las Vegas, where she was working as a traveling nurse. He
talked about difficulties with a new medication.

On May 17, Harris, 33,
was found hanged from a beam of an apartment under construction in
Danville.

His mother recalled his last words to her:

“Promise me,
Mom, if something happens to me, that you’ll be my voice to the boys who come
back so they get better medical treatment.”

Care gets beefed up

Military and VA officials said
they are trying to do just that.

Nationally, the VA has suicide
prevention coordinators in each of its hospitals and in 2007 started a suicide
hot line for veterans that has received more than 120,000 calls. The Louisville
VA Medical Center provides mental health care and outpatient group sessions for
once-suicidal veterans.

Joe Verney, suicide prevention program manager at
Fort Campbell, said his was the first Army installation in the continental
United States to create a council of leaders from medicine, religion, behavioral
health and other disciplines, in 2007, and to hire a suicide prevention
coordinator, in 2008.

The base also contracts with 29 behavioral health
professionals available for round-the-clock, anonymous consultations, and trains
soldiers in a suicide-prevention program called “Ask, Care, Escort,” which
stresses accompanying others to help.

Fort Knox officials said they are
taking similar steps, trying to eliminate the stigma against seeking
help.

“Our Army is clearly moving in the right direction,” said Mark
Graham, who used to command Colorado’s Fort Carson. “But it’s not moving fast
enough.”

The changes come too late for the Alas, who argue that mental
health needs to be treated like physical health, with the ill getting intensive
treatment.

Arylane Ala said problems with mental health care in the
military and VA reflect problems in the larger civilian culture. “Mental health
in general … should be more readily available,” she said. “People should be
treated more frequently. Having a (psychologist) to speak with every three
months is not enough when the illness is serious.”

Two years after their
son’s death, she and her husband often visit his ashes at a cemetery near Fort
Knox, placing plastic toy soldiers nearby to symbolize his service.

“You
hope nobody goes through the loss of a child,” said Arylane Ala, her eyes
filling with tears. “Life’s not meant to be that way.”

Reporter Laura
Ungar can be reached at (502) 582-7190.