Is Child Mental Illness Worsening Or Is the Definition Expanding?

Posted on January 27, 2012 by CCHR Florida

We would all agree that child mental health is an important issue in society.  Recent trends might lead us to believe that mental illness is on the rise, and that modern “science” is now properly labeling the countless “mental disorders” that children, adults and the elderly exhibit, but were previously misunderstood.   For example, children are known to have higher energy and activity levels, shorter attention spans, difficulty learning, uncontrolled emotional tantrums, fears, and shyness.  In the past we just let children grow up; but now these behaviors are labeled psychiatric disorders of one kind or another, and the children drugged to “fix” them.  No one knows the long-range effects of the new powerful anti-psychotic drugs not even tested on children.  But Ritalin and some of the earlier drugs have proven to stunt body and skull growth – directly countering a child’s health.  Nevertheless, these and the newer more powerful drugs are freely prescribed to children younger than four and through the teenage years, as being necessary for child mental health.

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Are Cats a Factor in Your Mental Health?

Posted on January 27, 2012 by CCHR Florida

As silly as it sounds, psychiatrists would like you to believe that cats could have something to do with your mental health.  They have put forth information linking cats to schizophrenia which is based only on speculation and convenient correlations, not any scientific studies.  This is just another desperate attempt to make mental disorders look physiological rather than what they really are, which are just names for various types of human behavior.

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Softened Sales Pitch Doesn’t Create Good Science

Posted on January 25, 2012 by CCHR Florida

In the Wall Street Journal’s Health Section on January 10th, 2012, Jonathon Rockoff explores the new sales techniques employed by the top manufacturers of psychiatric medications. In the report, he identifies what one company, Eli Lilly, has done to change their Hard Sell techniques to a more Consultative Sales technique. Gone are the days of telling the physician the high points of the drug’s effects and where it can be used and for what diagnosis or disorder. The old technique of Hard Sell was all about getting the drug used, and in large quantities, even if it meant off-label applications. This is where the borders of ethics get softened and physicians were guided to believe that some drugs are safe in application to non-studied populations, such as children and the elderly, only to find it causes harm and the side effects were minimized or covered up. Pharm Reps were the “detail” oriented reps who condensed down the high points (all of which were positive toward the drug) of a particular study showing the efficacy of the new drug. Physicians are busy people, and they knew that. They also knew that the physician would not have time to read the study or studies and most didn’t have the savvy to know how to decipher the graphs or statistics and see the inherent flaws of study methods or distinguish what is a fact found in the study or a hypothesis purely extrapolated from the outcome. In Dr. Timothy Scott’s book, America Fooled, Chapter 7 – Tricks of the Trade, Dr. Scott fully exposes how the pharmaceutical industry works the studies into positives when, in fact, were negative or no better than placebo. The example he used in this chapter was GlaxoSmithKline’s cover-up of the suicide related side effects of Paxil, an antidepressant drug being studied and marketed as a choice for anxious children.

The particular sales rep Mr. Rockoff interviewed, Michaelene Greenly, demonstrates what best practices could and should be as a medical sales representative. This type of sales technique is widely used in the equipment and supply industry. Knowing that your buyer/customer is sophisticated enough to figure out the benefits of a product once the features are known allows that you are selling to an intelligent person, not someone who needs to be spoon-fed how to use a product and why it helps patients. Most of today’s sales reps are highly skilled at Consultative Selling skills and as a result, become resources for their customers. It is without a doubt the most effective sales approach today.

But changing a sales technique in the Pharma Industry does not create science when there is none. Near the end of the article, Ms. Greenly is working with psychiatrist Dr. Cottle on how best to use Zyprexa, an antipsychotic known to produce high weight gain in patients and often leads to Diabetes Type II. It says she had diagrams of the brain on her laptop and it showed how Zyprexa worked in the brain. This she could supply to the MD and he could explain this to his patient. This is where studies become blurred with opinions. Given that today there is no concrete, usable evidence that chemical imbalances cause mental illness, and that extrapolated theories dominate the social thinking about mental illness to the point of Direct to Consumer Advertising, we have a dilemma as a society and as a medical industry. No matter the sales technique, the message should be based in science and well tested studies, not on opinions. People’s lives are influenced by our actions and perpetuating falsehoods decrease the survival of all of us. Softer sales techniques do not create a good  science.

 

By Kenneth W Thomas, RN, BS

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Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors Thicken Arteries

Posted on January 25, 2012 by CCHR Florida

Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most commonly prescribed antidepressant medication. Their use has been associated with everything from worsening depression to homicidal or suicidal behavior. But yet another dangerous side effect of serotonin reuptake inhibitors was discovered in a recent study done at Emory University School of Medicine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Medical Scientist Find Link between ADHD and Thyroid Conditions

Posted on January 23, 2012 by CCHR Florida

In Science Daily of March 12, 1997, a press release states medical researchers found a positive link between patients with ADHD and specific Thyroid levels. At the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Dr. Peter Hauser, Psychiatrist, warns “The correlation between thyroid hormone concentrations and symptoms of hyperactivity does not prove causality. What it does show is that thyroid hormones may provide a physiologic basis for the dichotomy between symptoms of inattention and symptoms of hyperactivity.”

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List of Adverse Side Effects for Antidepressants Grows.

Posted on January 23, 2012 by CCHR Florida

Researchers at the Emory School of Medicine have found real correlating data discovering that taking antidepressants, namely SSRIs, thicken the lining of your carotid arteries by 400 times normal. The carotid arteries are the arteries coming from your heart to your brain, bringing your brain freshly oxygenated blood to keep it functioning at optimum levels. People with carotid artery disease from thickening of the walls to plague build up have a decreased blood flow and this causes several unwanted conditions including stroke and death.

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Child Mental Health—Parents Losing Control

Posted on January 16, 2012 by CCHR Florida

Parents send their children off to school every day in hopes of them getting a good education and growing up to be mature responsible adults.  But what about child mental health?  Is that something you want addressed at your child’s school?  Are you aware of any sort of child mental health activities in existence at the school?  If not, perhaps your rights as a parent are at risk.

Back in the day it used to be there was a resident school nurse, who every September would note down height and weight and do a quick eye exam or something of the sort.  If you became ill during school hours, she would take your temperature and send you home.  Today the school nurse has largely been replaced with child mental health programs implemented in schools where students are screened for mental disorders.  Instead of being sent home with a fever, your child could be sent home with a diagnosis of mathematics disorder, reading disorder, ADHD, bipolar disorder, or a host of other so-called disorders.

It is vital that you know about any child mental health program in the school so that you as a parent remain in charge of your son or daughter’s health and welfare.   If your kids’ school does have a child mental health program in operation, it is very possible that your child could be screened for mental or behavioral disorders without your consent or knowledge.  Perhaps a parental consent form was legitimately sent out but didn’t make its way into the parents’ hands or, was conveniently overlooked.  In either case, the child or teen gets screened and that is the first step of your child’s mental health being under the direction of the school and not you.

These mental health screenings are a result of the government’s formation of the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health.  The goal is to screen all children through the school system and then the entire general public.  In theory, screening people in an effort to prevent something undesirable or to handle a condition before it gets worse is a good idea.  However, this does not apply to child mental health as it is impossible to screen someone for something that has never been proven medically or scientifically to exist.  Mental illnesses and mental disorders are only based on subjective opinions  and not on any physical evidence.  How else would school personnel ever be qualified to diagnose a mental or behavioral condition?

Additionally, some programs such as TeenScreen, admittedly have a false positive rate of 84-94 percent!  Imagine countless normal children being labeled with something they don’t have and put on a drug that has the strongest FDA warning of increased risk of suicide!  Imagine knowing that there is nothing wrong with your son or daughter and being told he/she must take a drug or you will be charged with child neglect! 

Needless to say, this is not some fly by night fluke of a situation to be ignored.  As a parent, you need to know these psychiatric drugs are prescribed to supposedly “improve” child mental health, but they actually alter the mind and are dangerous.  They have horrendous side effects such as violence, suicidal thoughts and mania to name a few.

This is why it would be a good idea to do your homework and find out what child mental health programs exist in your local schools.  That way you can exercise your rights as a parent so that you are informed on what can and can’t be done to your child without your consent.  Every parent should be allowed to raise and educate their child as they see fit.  Government or school intervention to handle behavioral problems in the name of mental health violates that right.  Get informed on your rights to informed consent.

 http://www.naturalnews.com/033969_mental_health_screening_teens.html

 http://www.naturalnews.com/026187.html

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Posted in ADD, ADHD, Children, Informed Consent, Mental Health Care, Mental Health Human Rights, Mental Health Screening, Mental Illness, Parents Rights, Psychiatric Abuse, Psychiatrists / Psychologists, Schools, Teens | Leave a comment

Talking to Your Children about Synthetic Drugs

Posted on January 16, 2012 by CCHR Florida

Talking to children is a parent’s best defense against their child’s use of synthetic drugs. In a culture where psychiatry and Big Pharmaceutical companies have made drug use commonplace among our youth, it may be wise to take another look at the side effects not only of the new and dangerous synthetic drugs, but of the often prescribed ones as well. The best defense may well be open communication with young children and teenagers. 

There are synthetic drugs so harmful that children have ended up in psych wards after ingesting them. This is no wonder, but of course the psychiatrists have no idea how to treat what is obviously a physical reaction to a toxic substance, not a mental illness. The director of the Louisiana Poison Center, Mark Ryan, pointed out that powerful antipsychotics were used by some doctors to “calm” users when sedatives failed. The antipsychotics, of course, are incredibly dangerous in themselves. Obviously, being falsely diagnosed as mentally ill while in a psychiatric hospital can be a traumatic and dangerous situation in itself.

Since hospital employees are unfamiliar with treatment for such abuse, there exists a real danger of misdiagnosis and improper treatment. As of now, there is no reliable medical test for synthetic drug use. Only anecdotal evidence can point to its existence.

Drug abusers compare the effects of synthetic drugs to that of methamphetamine, with the addition of extreme anger, hallucinations and physical anxiety so strenuous as to be uncontrollable. One emergency room doctor reported that he has had to administer “the equivalent” of general anesthesia to persons suffering extreme toxic effects from synthetic drugs.

Side effects of the synthetic drugs may include paranoia, panic attacks, depression, reduced perception of reality and difficulty in thinking clearly.  Some have even committed suicide days after using these easy to purchase drugs.

One of the most insidious things about these substances is the fact that they are sold legally in many states. Inexpensive and marked “not for human consumption,” they have managed to slip right by the FDA, often sold as bath salts and plant food. Some of the drugs are manufactured overseas, in Pakistan and other countries, by rogue chemists. Thankfully, some states are starting to ban them, encouraged by the many poison control centers around the country having to deal with emergency calls after synthetic drug use.

In September of 2011 the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced plans to make selling or possessing synthetic drugs of this nature illegal in the USA. This will be an emergency action that will be effective for a year. During this time, it is expected that the government will call for permanent control of the drugs.

Many of the side effects of synthetic drugs (including suicidality, heart problems, paranoia, anger, hallucinations) sound similar to warnings on prescribed psychiatric medications. One hopes the DEA will inspect the dangers of these drugs at the same time. Shouldn’t our children be protected from drug abuse whether it lines the pockets of a chemist in Pakistan or a psychiatrist in New York City?

http://verdenews.com/m/Articles.aspx?ArticleID=43722

http://www.crossroadsme.org/blog/?p=1763

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/bath-salts-drug-dangers

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/us/17salts.html?

 

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Posted in Children, Drug Warnings, Informed Consent, Mental Health Care, Mental Health Human Rights, Parents Rights, Schools, Street Drugs, Teens | Leave a comment

Are Medicated People with ADHD at Risk for Heart Problems?

Posted on January 9, 2012 by CCHR Florida

An alarming report was issued by the FDA in 2007 regarding people with ADHD and possible cardiovascular risks. In February of 2007, the US Food and Drug Administration released a report to all drug manufacturers that were involved in the production of medication to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADD). Can these psychiatric drugs cause heart problems? According to this report, the answer is most definitely yes. People with ADHD and parents of young children given this diagnosis can research this for themselves.

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Children Who Need AntiBiotics or ProBiotics Being Abused With Psychotropics

Posted on January 6, 2012 by CCHR Florida

The latest ploy by psychiatrists, and drug companies wishing to increase profits, is to use psychotropic drugs to treat children with a lingering strep infection.  Absurd as this may sound, it is being done in some cases.  Recent scientific research reveals that a certain strain of strep in children sometimes brings on mental and behavioral symptoms, which will not resolve without further antibiotics.  To label the behavior as a disorder and use psychotropic drugs leaves the actual condition untreated, perpetuating and worsening the child’s ills.  Some medical doctors, however, properly recognize the cause and have effectively treated this condition:

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