Be informed on medication
ANTIDEPRESSANT drugs have been linked to suicidal thoughts and suicidal behaviour for some time. If parents knew about this link and if they were given the opportunity to be fully-informed, it’s unlikely they would agree to their little bundles of joy being put on the drug.
It’s therefore staggering to learn that 703 antidepressant prescriptions were given to oneyear-olds in England between 2015 and 2019. In the same time period, 188 two-year-olds, 285 three-yearolds, 381 four-year-olds and 718 five-year-olds were also put on the psychiatric drug. It’s a 21st century method of child abuse.
It’s also been revealed that draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is advising doctors not to prescribe common painkillers for some chronic pain in people over 16 and has instead recommended, among other things, antidepressants. It’s a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire.
There have been 151 warnings from 11 countries that antidepressants cause harmful side effects. Of those, 37 warned about antidepressants causing suicide risk or suicidal behaviour.
Figures published in 2018 by the Office for National Statistics revealed the number of deaths in England related to antidepressant drug poisoning. From 1993 to 2017, the number of deaths totalled 11,169. This equates to 1.2 deaths per day over that 25-year period.
In an attempt to exonerate and mitigate, psychiatrists and drug company spin doctors commonly spout justifications which include the idea that benefits of the drugs outweigh the risks. When suicide is a potential risk, it’s hard to conceive benefits.
To add insult to injury, the psychiatric mantra that antidepressants correct a ‘chemical imbalance’ in the brain has essentially been dumped. The false idea was used to convince people there might be something useful in taking the drugs. At the end of the day, it was just an impressive marketing strategy that created untold destruction. Why then are prescribers still using these time bombs?
While the potential of suicidal thoughts and behaviour are vital to know, being fully-informed would include knowing the drugs have also been linked to higher heart disease, stroke risk, internal bleeding, birth defects, as well as violence and aggression.
Do what’s necessary to be a fullyinformed parent and/or a fullyinformed adult. By doing so, you can protect yourself and your family so that no one becomes a psychiatric statistic.
Brian Daniels, CCHR UK