On 2003-11-20 20:41:00, Deborah wrote:
"Many of the previous posts originated from this link which has a great stash of information:
http://www.antidepressantsfacts.com/side-effects.htm
More on Utah and Antidepressants
http://www.drugawareness.org/Archives/M ... xtgen.html
Excerpts:
There are presently a million children ages 6 - 18 on these drugs.
Perhaps because of Utah's high use of these medications for several years, we could stand as a test laboratory for the FDA and spare others the agony of serving as guinea pigs. Since the release of these drugs on the market Utah has held the title of the "Prozac Capital" of the nation. Along with that we have had drastic increases in: suicide, unwed pregnancies, domestic violence, manic-depression, MS, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, hypoglycemia, diabetes, bankruptcies, and our divorce rate is now higher than the national average. Patients report all of these as side effects of these drugs and there is overwhelming scientific evidence spanning over three decades to support those reports. Our teen suicide rate coincides perfectly with our use of mind altering prescription medications - Utah's teen suicide rate is three times the national average while our use of these drugs is also three times the national average.
Just last week in Salt Lake I interviewed a school teacher who attempted to hire students to kill her principal while on Prozac. Then a 14 year old girl, now off Paxil, through tears confessed to her mother that, although she did not know why, while on the drug she attempted to hire someone to kill her mother. Larramie Huntzinger, under the influence of SSRIs, blacked out and ran his car into three young girls killing two. Last summer a 13 year old boy on Prozac put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. The same month another 13 year old boy on Zoloft only six days hung himself. An 18 year old model student and LDS seminary president on Paxil for four days shocked his loved ones by shooting himself. And a 16 year old on Prozac 2 weeks hung himself. How many more have done the same over the last ten years? How long will it take us to count the dead and dying children in Utah alone?
"
SSRI's are not candy, and they're not aspirin.
If you have bipolar I or bipolar II disorder and are misdiagnosed as having major depression, your doctor (and family) may not be aware if your dose of antidepressants is too high, or you're on the wrong one for you, and it sends you into a manic phase.
Bipolars in a manic phase can become psychotic and violent.
It's not so much that the SSRI just randomly causes people to freak out as it is that psychiatrists have problems recognizing the difference between major depression and one of the bipolar disorders for several reasons---1) The bipolar disorders are rare, and major depression is common; 2) Patients tend not to recognize symptoms of mania as *symptoms* and tend not to report them to their doctors. It's common for bipolars to go several years misdiagnosed as major depressives before being (finally) correctly diagnosed.
It's not actually that the SSRI makes the patient manic and/or psychotic as it is that, in some patients, the SSRI activates symptoms of a disease the psychiatrist was not aware he was looking at.
The solution to this is not to quit prescribing SSRI's, it's to more closely monitor patients starting on SSRI's for symptoms of mania.
If the patient is sent manic by SSRI's, the solution may not be to discontinue the SSRI--if you can't find one that doesn't send the patient manic, the medically appropriate solution may be to put the patient on the SSRI *and* a mood stabilizer like Lithium. No mania, no violence. The reason for the SSRI is you don't want the patient depressed *either*.
Suicide is a little different issue---that *can* be caused by a major depressive who intended to suicide but didn't have the energy suddenly having enough energy to act. Or it can be caused by someone suddenly and unpredictably stopping his medication.
Psychiatric medications are not candy.
BUT for people with major mental illnesses, psychiatric medications are *necessary*. The trick is the right medicines, in the right doses, and the patient having the right diagnosis.
But, if you don't know psychiatry/psychology from a hole in the ground, it can *look like* "Gee, these bad and dangerous medicines are making people crazy!!!"
Wrong.
These people were crazy to start with. If you give a crazy person the wrong medications for his/her illness because you've misdiagnosed that illness, Bad Things Happen. Surprise, surprise.
These strong medications with associated risks and side effects are dangerous unless the patient is properly diagnosed and his/her condition is properly monitored by a *competent*, qualified, licensed psychiatrist.
It is *necessary* for patients with a major mental illness to be seen regularly by, and correctly diagnosed by, and treated with the right medications in the right doses by *competent*, qualified, licensed psychiatrists.
Oh, and, by the way, there is no way in hell bipolar disorders can be caused by taking SSRI's, or aspirin, or candy, or not brushing your teeth twice a day, or not saying your prayers like a good little boy/girl, or whatever.
The Bipolar Disorders Are Genetic. Period.
There is more Bipolar Disorder in the statistics than there used to be for two reasons:
1) The Bipolar Disorders are being recognized and correctly diagnosed more often now that psychiatry understands this disorder much better than it did, say, 20 years ago.
2) Bipolar Disorders Are Genetic. More bipolars are being helped by psychiatric medication to live normal lives, to NOT suicide, and to have children. Duh. If more of us live to have kids, you're going to have more bipolar kids next generation. (I happen to think it's worth it.)