Drugging Our Kids

[sac beh]

AlterNet has an article titled Why Are We Drugging Our Kids? which presents the case for overuse of psychiatric drugs. Some startling statistics about the increased prescription of these drugs for kids, their often damaging effects, and Pharma's profits. A few juicy snippets:

Prescriptions for psychiatric drugs increased 50 percent with children in the US, and 73 percent among adults, from 1996 to 2006, according to a study in the May/June 2009 issue of the journal Health Affairs. Another study in the same issue of Health Affairs found spending for mental health care grew more than 30 percent over the same ten-year period, with almost all of the increase due to psychiatric drug costs.
...
"All these drugs may curb a target symptom slightly more effectively than a placebo does for a short period of time, say six weeks," Whitaker said. However, what "you find with every class of these psychiatric drugs is a worsening of the target symptom of depression or psychosis or anxiety, over the long term, compared to placebo-treated patients."

"So even on the target symptoms, there's greater chronicity and greater severity of symptoms," he reports, "And you see a fairly significant percentage of patients where new and more severe psychiatric symptoms are triggered by the drug itself."

At the same time New Scientist's Psychiatry's civil war details the battle among psychiatrists who want to expand definitions of mental illnesses and those who oppose these efforts.

When doctors disagree with each other, they usually couch their criticisms in careful, measured language. In the past few months, however, open conflict has broken out among the upper echelons of US psychiatry. The focus of discord is a volume called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, which psychiatrists turn to when diagnosing the distressed individuals who turn up at their offices seeking help. Regularly referred to as the profession's bible, the DSM is in the midst of a major rewrite, and feelings are running high.

Two eminent retired psychiatrists are warning that the revision process is fatally flawed. They say the new manual, to be known as DSM-V, will extend definitions of mental illnesses so broadly that tens of millions of people will be given unnecessary and risky drugs...

Some of the most acrimonious arguments stem from worries about the pharmaceutical industry's influence over psychiatry. This has led to the spotlight being turned on the financial ties of those in charge of revising the manual, and has made any diagnostic changes that could expand the use of drugs especially controversial.

When will there be a huge revolt against the business of drugging our kids for profit? There must be an argument for cannabis legalization here... Skip?

Sources:
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/144538/why_are_we_drugging_our_kids
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427381.300-psychiatrys-civil-war.html?full=true

 

[Skip]

Yes, this is all a ploy to allow doctors to prescribe even more psychiatric drugs. And as the article points out, these individuals determining what constitutes a psychiatric disorder are in the pay of Big Pharma. That shouldn't be a surprise. Big Pharma is the BIGGEST DRUG PUSHER on the planet, causing untold misery.

Know how to stop this dead in its tracks? Start SUING the Docs prescribing drugs that don't really help and make your symptoms worse. Enough lawsuits and these docs will rethink their prescribing standards.

On the other hand, once cannabis remedies are in the hands of Big Pharma, they will be prescribing it like aspirin, since it has so many uses in psychiatry and medicine.

Another good way to fight this is to EDUCATE people to confront their doctors about what they prescribe, and ASK for Cannabis whenever it can help their situation.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

This slice of the healthcare system and the tiny slice of it that revolves around pregnancy are absolutely disgusting. Watch "The Business of Being Born", a documentary on childbirth in America. Sick!

There's another documentary that covers medicating kids... wow. Truly horrifying what doctors are doing to kids in the name of 'Good Pharmacology".


Chemical and Insurance companies are responsible, mostly, for how out of control our healthcare system is... it needs to be re-tooled from the ground up and WITHOUT the influence of Big Pharma. Thankyouverymuch.

Stay Safe all!

(That means getting REAL doctors for your kid and working with cannabis as a FIRST line defense, not using Rx willy nilly because your hmo doc says that's what's so.)

 

[Catharsis]

I've always disagreed with the drugging of children with psychotropics, Cannabis included.

 

[sac beh]

On the other hand, once cannabis remedies are in the hands of Big Pharma, they will be prescribing it like aspirin, since it has so many uses in psychiatry and medicine.

which scares me. who knows what else they'll stick in their "cannabis-based" drugs to make kids chemically addicted to their products, because regrettably for Pharma cannabis insures repeat customers because of its effectiveness not addictiveness.

So in my opinion efforts to legalize must focus on the rights of individuals to grow and use cannabis, NOT on making cannabis a prescription-based drug only made by pharmas.

 

[kweb1989]

reminds me of when i was in the military... they put me on over a dozen meds over 2-3months, went to the psyc ward for a couple weeks got out... doc said there isnt a medicine that would help me. I havnt smoked in a while cause i lost my job and am trying to get another but CANNABIS WORKS MORE THEN PILLS!!!

I been on almost all the BS docs can give you and nothing works... just makes you sleep and less social!

A pill can kill but there's hope in dope!

 

[Blue Dot]

This has led to the spotlight being turned on the financial ties of those in charge of revising the manual,

Aren't there "conflict of interests" laws in the US?

If not, there should be.

 

[Pistil_Party09]

the fact that Rx drugs are advertised on tv, radio, internet etc is proof enough how fucked america and big pharma really is.

next person i talk to whose on antidepressants im gonna ask for them then dump em down the drain.

ive seen many people close to me be put on pills and get totally fucked up

i had a friend in high school who had ADHD i guess and the meds they put him on made him a totally different person....antisocial...quiet...mumbled alot....stared at the ground...look unhappy all the time....
its sad to see....

 

[dubwise]

Aren't there "conflict of interests" laws in the US?

If not, there should be.

Yes there are for those who are not elite....and no for the elite.

 

[Hydro-Soil]

So in my opinion efforts to legalize must focus on the rights of individuals to grow and use cannabis, NOT on making cannabis a prescription-based drug only made by pharmas.

Exactly!

To everyone who has issues with giving kids cannabis.... what harmful studies have you read about that differentiated between sativas and indicas? Any that actually worked with known strains and grow/harvest methods?

25 F'n years I used 'street cannabis' with varying degrees of success. It was effective enough, often enough, that I subconsciously pursued it consistently.
Once I hit California and started treating my back pain with cannabis I found out that certain strains were ABSOLUTELY F'N FANTASTIC for my head, anxiety, memory and focus as well.

Treating kids with cannabis without paying attention to quality, consistency and (most importantly) strain, is dangerous and just wrong. Working with a child to find the appropriate strain to assist them is the best possible thing you could do for a child's future. It affects their physical and mental health in such a positive way it's asinine to consider a chemical cocktail as a "Safer" alternative.

Get the hell out of our kids Big Pharma.... You've F'ed them up enough already!

 

[mpd]

This is the story of my life since diagnosis ten years ago. A drug works for a while and the voices are muted. Over time, I build up a tolerance for the drug and the voices and (irritating) hallucinations return; the harbingers of my downward slide into the murky world of pseudo-reality where it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish my own paranoid illusions from that which is reality. Time and facts become twisted and lost. My despair rises in a choking cloud that smothers all hope and defies all levels of treatment; the risk of mental health facility confinement becomes all-encompassing, a constant source of anxiety that strikes in pulsing waves of hysteria that verge on complete and utter psychosis.

That's the reality. The drugs are but temporary promises that are broken and broken again and again while mental health professionals make a boatload of money writing about my case in this publication or that; the rarity, the ability of the patient to recall events over which there was no conscious realization - all of it part of the modern torment that defines the practice of psychiatry as we now see it.

For those who find relief in these potions I applaud your choice of seeking help and finding solace even when the solace comes only from a bottle. I seek a cure all the while knowing that one day it will all prove to be too much and I will have to take my own life anyway to put a stop to it.

On that day God will have to answer for it all...

 

[danimal7]

must condition the kids to take pills the rest of there lives

have you guys seen the amount of rx narcotics on the street??
methadose,oxy,vicodin... its fucking sick...nasty shit!!

11 people a day die from oxy in florida .....and nobody does shit about big pharma

if 11 manatee a day were washing up on the beaches..motherfuckers would be flocking to FL. from all over the world with outrage

 

[texsativa]

Yes, this is all a ploy to allow doctors to prescribe even more psychiatric drugs. And as the article points out, these individuals determining what constitutes a psychiatric disorder are in the pay of Big Pharma. That shouldn't be a surprise. Big Pharma is the BIGGEST DRUG PUSHER on the planet, causing untold misery.

Know how to stop this dead in its tracks? Start SUING the Docs prescribing drugs that don't really help and make your symptoms worse. Enough lawsuits and these docs will rethink their prescribing standards.

On the other hand, once cannabis remedies are in the hands of Big Pharma, they will be prescribing it like aspirin, since it has so many uses in psychiatry and medicine.

Another good way to fight this is to EDUCATE people to confront their doctors about what they prescribe, and ASK for Cannabis whenever it can help their situation.

A few points I would like to make:

1. Suing docs. There is little research done in mental health. We don't know why some drugs work well for some people, while in others they don't. More research should be funded for mental health...big time. It is relatively still in the dark ages compared to say internal medicine where everything is protocol. In psychiatry, you try to find what works well. Now, lawsuits have their place. But it is important to distinguish lack of scientific evidence versus negligence. If symptoms worsen, change paths. No mystery there. And, there are some bad doctors out in the world. Some very good ones too.

2. For a child to be prescribed an antipsychotic or any medication for that matter, the parent must give consent. It is the decision of the parent, and it is the responsibility of the physician to inform the parent of the risks and benefits, and to explain the lack of scientific evidence behind the treatment plan.

This is the story of my life since diagnosis ten years ago. A drug works for a while and the voices are muted. Over time, I build up a tolerance for the drug and the voices and (irritating) hallucinations return; the harbingers of my downward slide into the murky world of pseudo-reality where it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish my own paranoid illusions from that which is reality. Time and facts become twisted and lost. My despair rises in a choking cloud that smothers all hope and defies all levels of treatment; the risk of mental health facility confinement becomes all-encompassing, a constant source of anxiety that strikes in pulsing waves of hysteria that verge on complete and utter psychosis.

That's the reality. The drugs are but temporary promises that are broken and broken again and again while mental health professionals make a boatload of money writing about my case in this publication or that; the rarity, the ability of the patient to recall events over which there was no conscious realization - all of it part of the modern torment that defines the practice of psychiatry as we now see it.

For those who find relief in these potions I applaud your choice of seeking help and finding solace even when the solace comes only from a bottle. I seek a cure all the while knowing that one day it will all prove to be too much and I will have to take my own life anyway to put a stop to it.

On that day God will have to answer for it all...

Truly sorry to hear this. I believe God is merciful and justful, and I believe your hardship does not go unnoticed. I am always a PM away if you need someone to talk to.

 

[StevenSteve]

Dude you guys are speaking my language.. I have been imprisioned by psychiartirsts and poisoned with psychiatric meds and it is terrible.. they abuse people in mental hosipitals, and yes the meds are poisions.. killing you slowly.. but i think they know that.. they want it to happen because then you will be "safe" and "not a threat" to them anymore because you have become a harmless retard in the process... very sad... they have isolated me too and turned my family and freinds against me.. they are horrible beasts who exert much power.. they are almost completely exempt from the law too.. and if you refuse your meds, they hold you down and inject u with them because "you need them".. being a person that doesn't believe in psychiatry and meds it was very hard for me to be in the hospital because of the force, the poisoinoing, and the endless propaganda and brainwashing that happened to me.. then they would just leave you alone and let you rot... people don't have rights in psychaitric hospitals, and i live in america!! oh my fuckin gosh...... they deem you incompetant and then they take that as they are your masters then.. your protectors.. but they don't protect you they make you feel sick and dead.. it is a LIE.. and it is so big it boggles the mind.. psychiatry is gaining so much ground if we dont do something about it, everybody will be on a med and the overseeing psychiatrists will tinker with the meds until they kill us all.. anyone who is a pot loving earth sharing hippie will know this is a tragedy! that is all for now

 

[StevenSteve]

oh and by the way the psychiatric drug industry rakes in about 330 billion a year from phychiatric drugs

 

[StevenSteve]

www.cchr.org ... watch the intro video (and the others too if your interested) and even though it is affiliated with scientology.. i see these travestys happening in hospitals whenever i am in one so i know its true

 

[texsativa]

Dude you guys are speaking my language.. I have been imprisioned by psychiartirsts and poisoned with psychiatric meds and it is terrible.. they abuse people in mental hosipitals, and yes the meds are poisions.. killing you slowly.. but i think they know that.. they want it to happen because then you will be "safe" and "not a threat" to them anymore because you have become a harmless retard in the process... very sad... they have isolated me too and turned my family and freinds against me.. they are horrible beasts who exert much power.. they are almost completely exempt from the law too.. and if you refuse your meds, they hold you down and inject u with them because "you need them".. being a person that doesn't believe in psychiatry and meds it was very hard for me to be in the hospital because of the force, the poisoinoing, and the endless propaganda and brainwashing that happened to me.. then they would just leave you alone and let you rot... people don't have rights in psychaitric hospitals, and i live in america!! oh my fuckin gosh...... they deem you incompetant and then they take that as they are your masters then.. your protectors.. but they don't protect you they make you feel sick and dead.. it is a LIE.. and it is so big it boggles the mind.. psychiatry is gaining so much ground if we dont do something about it, everybody will be on a med and the overseeing psychiatrists will tinker with the meds until they kill us all.. anyone who is a pot loving earth sharing hippie will know this is a tragedy! that is all for now

Actually, psychiatrists do not want to medicate. It opens the door for side effects, and I've never met a psychiatrist who will start two medications at the same time. There is no reason to medicate if the benefits do not outweigh the risk. If there were no mental illness in the world, there would be no psychiatrist, and that would be great! However, psychiatry is real, because mental illness is real, and there are great psychiatrists in the world who do care for people, and do not treat them as a prisoner or less than a person, and who do not like to medicate if it is not necessary. Granted, due to the lack of scientific research, they may not know the proper treatment.

For instance, there are a lot of herbal remedies available, but they are generally not told to the patient due to the lack of scientific research in those herbal remedies. You may find a few studies comparing say an herbal remedy and anxiety, while you find thousands on beta blocker and heart failure. There is a huge difference and personally I find it sickening people attack the field of psychiatry when it is so behind the times. I feel more people should be screaming for the advancement of psychiatry, in more mental health research.

 

[StevenSteve]

well psychiatry has the potential to go both ways.. i forsee remedys that are a one time thing and also maybe a week or a month long thing.. (until better - or if not better take off and perscribe soemthing else) not something you have to take the rest of you life unless needed.. doctors nowadays from what ive seen perscribe it to be constantly taken.. and that is making people sick becuase too much of something is never good!!

 

[StevenSteve]

people at the hospital i was at were taking like 15 to 20 meds at a time, and the doctor was changing multiple ones regularly

 

[texsativa]

well psychiatry has the potential to go both ways.. i forsee remedys that are a one time thing and also maybe a week or a month long thing.. (until better - or if not better take off and perscribe soemthing else) not something you have to take the rest of you life unless needed.. doctors nowadays from what ive seen perscribe it to be constantly taken.. and that is making people sick becuase too much of something is never good!!

Very few things in medicine are one time treat and cure...for instance a bacterial infection.

high blood pressure, heart failure, diabetes, alzheimer's, mental illness, etc, all are tried to be managed, life long problems...not one time treat and cure.

As I said, medications should only be prescribed if the benefits outweigh the risks.