Health Officials: Antipsychotic Drugs Given to Millions of Children are Very Dangerous

Millions of children have been put on antipsychotic drugs since 2009 alone. The number of children on these pharmaceuticals is becoming so astronomical that the U.S. pediatric health advisers are now speaking out against the known and unknown dangers of such widespread drugging of children nationwide. Doctors have become so eager to prescribe these drugs to patients that half of all citizens in the United States will be diagnosed with a mental illness within their lifetime.

What is even more nonsensical about the explosion in prescription antipsychotics is that there is hardly any scientific data to show that the drugs are effective at treating what they claim to, while there is significant amounts of research linking antipsychotics to suicide, diabetes, weight gain, decreased life expectancy, and triggering an array of metabolic conditions.

Of course the link between suicide and antispychotic and anti-depressant drugs was completely covered up by Eli Lilly & Co, the makers of Prozac.

Despite research conducted as far back as the 1980’s finding that Prozac actually leads to suicide, which is the very thing it is often prescribed to treat, the company hid the evidence until a Harvard psychiatrist leaked the information into the press. The psychiatrist, Martin Teicher, stated that the American people were being treated like guinea pigs in a massive pharmaceutical experiment.

In order to cover up their scandalous actions, the company set up false drug trials in an attempt to prove the safety of Prozac. Teicher explained how the company interfered with the research to produce false conclusions:

“They culled patients from their worldwide trials, they cherry-picked the studies, leaving out the trials showing problems.”

Since the 80’s, numerous studies have reached even more frightening conclusions regarding mental health pharmaceuticals. Ritalin, a very popular drug among unruly children, stimulates the central nervous system. As a biological response, conditions develop such as:

• Increased blood pressure
• Increased heart rate
• Increased body temperature
• Increased alertness
• Suppressed appetite

Harry Hucknall, a 10 year-old boy, hung himself after taking a combination of Ritalin and Prozac. The tragic death was most likely a result of the pharmaceutical concoction, as the autopsy revealed his body to contain more drugs than the normal level for adults suffering from the same problems. Even the ‘normal’ amount of these drugs can ignite suicidal thoughts. Imagine a child coping with an amount far exceeding the levels required to treat an average adult.

Doctors who readily prescribe unnecessary and severely dangerous pharmaceuticals like Prozac and Ritalin are oftentimes more concerned about monetary kickbacks and benefits than the health of the patient.

Widespread Prescribing of Antipsychotic Drugs Sparks Serious Health Problems

Antipsychotic drugs are being prescribed to an ever-increasing number of adolescents and young adults, and many of them are being prescribed for off-label purposes. But these over-prescriptions are putting youngsters at risk, though we’re slow as a society to change our med-heavy ways.

These powerful medications are being prescribed to young people with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a condition the drugs are not approved to treat.

According to researchers from Columbia University in New York, the percentage of teens using antipsychotics rose from 1.10% in 2006 to 1.19% in 2010. Among young adults aged 19 to 24, the percentage rose from 0.69% to 0.84%.

For the study, research psychiatrist at Columbia Dr. Mark Olfson and his colleagues analyzed prescription data from 2006, 2008, and 2010, as well as records from 2009 combining pharmacy and medical claims information. The records spanned prescriptions filled at approximately 60% of all retail pharmacies in the U.S.

About 270,000 prescriptions for antipsychotic drugs, including Abilify (aripiprazole), Risperdal (risperidone), Seroquel (quetiapine), Zyprexa (olanzapine) were dispensed to younger children, 2.14 million to older children, 2.80 million to adolescents, and 1.83 million to young adults in 2010. Among children 18 and under, the most common reason for antipsychotics was ADHD.

“This is concerning because evidence of anti-psychotics’ efficacy for treating a number of behavioural health disorders is lacking,” said Dr. Meredith Matone, a research scientist with PolicyLab at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Shifting to depression, much of what we thought we knew about depression has turned out to be untrue. For years, the public has believed that low serotonin levels caused depression, even though scientists never said that was the case. What is known is that depression is helped by increasing serotonin levels, not that low serotonin itself is the cause.

Because of this, many doctors and experts fear that antidepressants serve as little more than a bandaid on a gaping wound, merely tackling the symptoms without getting at the root cause of depression, worsening the problem in the process. Antidepressants actually “work” by overdosing the brain with serotonin, possibly damaging the brain’s functioning in the process. You can imagine the overwhelming impact this might have on a young, developing brain.

“After several weeks on psychoactive drugs, the brain’s compensatory efforts begin to fail, and side effects emerge that reflect the mechanism of action of the drugs. For example, the SSRIs may cause episodes of mania, because of the excess of serotonin. Antipsychotics cause side effects that resemble Parkinson’s disease, because of the depletion of dopamine (which is also depleted in Parkinson’s disease),” explains medical journalist and Pulitzer Prize nominee Robert Whitaker.

“As side effects emerge, they are often treated by other drugs, and many patients end up on a cocktail of psychoactive drugs prescribed for a cocktail of diagnoses.”

Natural Solutions for Improved Mental Health

Instead of paying for harmful side effects, try a natural approach that is both free and effective:

• Exercise – Proven to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, simply walking for 15 minutes per day can lead to noticeable changes in your mental clarity.
• Nutrition – It has been proven that the health of your gut directly affects the health of your brain. Artificial sweeteners and genetically modified ingredients hinder and tax the body, making it harder to feel the way you truly should. Adapt a diet that is full of high-quality organic foods, preferably full of raw fruits and vegetables.
• Detoxify – Rid the body of built-up chemicals and undigested food substances. Super hydrate yourself by drinking half your body weight in purified water, and consuming fresh raw vegetables for a week and see the difference. Detoxifying by performing various cleanses such as a colon cleanse, liver cleanse, or heavy metal cleanse can also be extremely beneficial. Performing cleanses will flush out the toxins which have accumulated in your body over the years