How the FDA Buried the Dangers of Anti-Depressants
amidwesterndoctor.substack.com
In the first part of this series (which must be read before this part), I argued that SSRI antidepressants provide minimal benefit (around 20% of recipients experience a benefit) and frequently cause significant harm. On that basis, it is highly problematic they were ever FDA approved, particularly since they are given out like candy and over 10% of the American population is on them. However, while there are many “bad” drugs on the market, SSRIs (and to a lesser extent a few other psychiatric medications) have a unique side effect that…as much as I am reluctant to use this terminology…can only be described as demonic.
I have two friends that lost three children to suicide. All three were on SSRI antidepressants. My friend, E’s, 17 year old shot herself in the head outside her college campus. She had been on meds for years for severe anxiety and depression. Her brother never showed signs of depression but he got depressed after his sister’s suicide. He shot himself two years later. He was 21 years old. E begged the psychiatrist not to prescribe her son SSRIs because of what happened to his sister. E was sure that it was the medication. The psychiatrist ignored her. The other young women, just 16, and just 6 months on SSRIs, shot herself in the heart. These are not children from broken home or from impoverished families. As a nurse, I can tell you medications effect people differently and I could tell you about the many times my patients have gone crazy on medications. My own daughter was taking Tessolon Perles for pneumonia and all of sudden she was speaking to me like Linda Blair from The Exorcist! I thought she was going to strike me. Initially, it thought it was the steroids but when I took the Perles away, she was normal. Always, assume the meds if your patient has a problem.
SSRI's work by stiffling the ability to feel. They deaden feelings. In doing so they greatly decrease empathy. I call them 'soul stifflers'.
They are often prescribed when a person is depressed due to a life event such as divorce, the death of someone close, etc. What happens without an SSRI is that a person, often with the support of others works through the situation and gains some skills to help get through similar situations in the future.
What happens with SSRI's if the SSRI is effective is that that healing is prevented. There are those who are prescribed an SSRI due to a life situation who many years later are still taking the SSRI. I think that SSRI's actually prevent growth and healing.
Imagine going to a doctor with a broken leg and being in pain. If the doctor treats the pain but doesn't set and cast the broken bone the painkiller may give relief but the underlying problem remains untouched. Instead one would be constantly taking the pain killer and their leg would set in a deformed way. The situation with SSRI's is similar.
Should they ever be prescribed? In my opinion, maybe but much, much less than they are now. For some they may help provide a brief period of time to help relieve suffering until real healing can begin.
MwD... Excellent coverage of this important (and, maddening) topic! As a late comer to the mental health part of medicine, my move into cannabis medicine a decade ago (following loss of my son to PTSD) revealed every point you have made is dead on accurate. 90-95% of the "disease" and "dysfunctiuon" that appears in a primary care physician office is rooted in life trauma, IMO. Cannabis is an important tool for helping the body heal itself. Trauma therapy specialists (not psychiatrist!) are key for helping patients work through their trauma-related pain. Dr. Breggin is a hero for me - he has pointed out the failings of Psychiatry throughout his career and suffered for it. Dr. Gabor Mate' has become another hero to me, as he has championed the trauma causes disease model. Both men are strong defenders of Humanity and gentle souls.
Thanks for addressing this important and timely topic!
My sister-in-law had a hysterectomy at the age of 52. She was given HRT and a "happy pill" to mitigate her emotional state. The meds were lowered and upped every few months as her emotional state was not improving. She was then given Ambien for trouble sleeping. As time went by her emotional state continued to worsen. She then decided to quit smoking and went on Chantix. She committed suicide at the age of 55. At the time she died, she was on Ambien, Lexapro & HRT, having quit Chantix a month prior. Can you imagine all those drugs interacting with one another all at once?
The same report can be prepared for statins. Fake clinical trials, fake efficacy, drug reps bribing doctors. Taking just about any pharmaceutical is a gateway drug to other prescribed poisons.
Circa 2022 Big Pharma is the greatest threat to the life and livelihood of all Americans and I would suggest most all of the UK/Europe.
The amount of damage being done to biological systems by the Pharma cocktails that swirl around in a vast percentage of the population is incalculable. The more glaring ones are reported but the vast majority are sub-clinical and result in the "quiet suffering" and the destruction in quality-of-life for millions of people in this country.
People talk about banning guns (I am not a gun owner) how about we ban the poisonous pills that Pharma makes billions from at the expense of public health.
Jun 2, 2022·edited Jun 2, 2022Liked by A Midwestern Doctor
My anxiety with ocd became unbearable after the death of my father because of the family dynamics that resulted from his year long illness. I have always had ocd and anxiety, but I didn’t know those repetitive thoughts were actually ocd. I asked for something and was given sertraline. I did not experience depression or anger on it, but I decided that i didn’t want to rely on a pharmaceutical for the rest of my life, so I took myself off over the course of a three month period. I guess I’m one of the small percentage of people that it helped. I was on it 3 years beginning at age 61.
What a great read! As a teenager I remember reading some of these findings in the earlier 2000s…and it brought it all back…especially your parallels with the Covid vaccines. Thank you for your writing and in depth research.
I was put on Paxil by my doctor in the mid-2000s. Luckily it didn't damage me. I was in my 30s - maybe that helped. I'm suddenly thinking maybe it was a good thing I avoided therapy all those years. I started suffering from depression in my teens (during the 80s). My mom tried to set me up with a shrink but I refused to go. I may have saved my own life because they probably would've put me on something. Anyway, thanks for this and the companion piece. Eye-opening.
I've been following Peter Breggin's work since I was a clinical psychology graduate student in the late 80's and early 90's. He was definitely a pioneer in bringing the dangers of SSRIs and all psychiatric medications to light, as well as the deceptive tactics used by Big Pharma to get these meds on the market. Because of this, I suspected early on that the same thing was happening with the covid vaccine, and never got one myself--something I'm very grateful for. Thank you for your work and so clearly connecting the dots of the SSRI debacle to what's going on with covid.
Great piece, and it's good to see the Bush/Eli Lilly connection mentioned here. A while back I put a thread together on Twitter about a little-known mental health nonprofit and its likely ties to the Bush family. I think the rabbit hole goes pretty deep.
Thanks so much for this series. I was on SSRI for anxiety a few years ago. Let’s just say it was a whirlwind getting off. My dr said she thought I had a genetic issue with these & was going to put it on my chart. Since found out I did. Learning breathing exercises from The Breathing Cure” has been my best fix along with diet improvement
I have two friends that lost three children to suicide. All three were on SSRI antidepressants. My friend, E’s, 17 year old shot herself in the head outside her college campus. She had been on meds for years for severe anxiety and depression. Her brother never showed signs of depression but he got depressed after his sister’s suicide. He shot himself two years later. He was 21 years old. E begged the psychiatrist not to prescribe her son SSRIs because of what happened to his sister. E was sure that it was the medication. The psychiatrist ignored her. The other young women, just 16, and just 6 months on SSRIs, shot herself in the heart. These are not children from broken home or from impoverished families. As a nurse, I can tell you medications effect people differently and I could tell you about the many times my patients have gone crazy on medications. My own daughter was taking Tessolon Perles for pneumonia and all of sudden she was speaking to me like Linda Blair from The Exorcist! I thought she was going to strike me. Initially, it thought it was the steroids but when I took the Perles away, she was normal. Always, assume the meds if your patient has a problem.
Superb!
Years ago I did some research on the school shootings. It revealed that 50% of the shooters were on SSRIs and/or not other psychiatric meds.
The other 50%?
We simply didn't know what they were on or if they were on any psychiatric or ADHD meds at all (confidentiality).
So we were looking at 50% at a minimum, and possibly 95-100% at a maximum!
SSRI's work by stiffling the ability to feel. They deaden feelings. In doing so they greatly decrease empathy. I call them 'soul stifflers'.
They are often prescribed when a person is depressed due to a life event such as divorce, the death of someone close, etc. What happens without an SSRI is that a person, often with the support of others works through the situation and gains some skills to help get through similar situations in the future.
What happens with SSRI's if the SSRI is effective is that that healing is prevented. There are those who are prescribed an SSRI due to a life situation who many years later are still taking the SSRI. I think that SSRI's actually prevent growth and healing.
Imagine going to a doctor with a broken leg and being in pain. If the doctor treats the pain but doesn't set and cast the broken bone the painkiller may give relief but the underlying problem remains untouched. Instead one would be constantly taking the pain killer and their leg would set in a deformed way. The situation with SSRI's is similar.
Should they ever be prescribed? In my opinion, maybe but much, much less than they are now. For some they may help provide a brief period of time to help relieve suffering until real healing can begin.
MwD... Excellent coverage of this important (and, maddening) topic! As a late comer to the mental health part of medicine, my move into cannabis medicine a decade ago (following loss of my son to PTSD) revealed every point you have made is dead on accurate. 90-95% of the "disease" and "dysfunctiuon" that appears in a primary care physician office is rooted in life trauma, IMO. Cannabis is an important tool for helping the body heal itself. Trauma therapy specialists (not psychiatrist!) are key for helping patients work through their trauma-related pain. Dr. Breggin is a hero for me - he has pointed out the failings of Psychiatry throughout his career and suffered for it. Dr. Gabor Mate' has become another hero to me, as he has championed the trauma causes disease model. Both men are strong defenders of Humanity and gentle souls.
Thanks for addressing this important and timely topic!
My sister-in-law had a hysterectomy at the age of 52. She was given HRT and a "happy pill" to mitigate her emotional state. The meds were lowered and upped every few months as her emotional state was not improving. She was then given Ambien for trouble sleeping. As time went by her emotional state continued to worsen. She then decided to quit smoking and went on Chantix. She committed suicide at the age of 55. At the time she died, she was on Ambien, Lexapro & HRT, having quit Chantix a month prior. Can you imagine all those drugs interacting with one another all at once?
The same report can be prepared for statins. Fake clinical trials, fake efficacy, drug reps bribing doctors. Taking just about any pharmaceutical is a gateway drug to other prescribed poisons.
Circa 2022 Big Pharma is the greatest threat to the life and livelihood of all Americans and I would suggest most all of the UK/Europe.
The amount of damage being done to biological systems by the Pharma cocktails that swirl around in a vast percentage of the population is incalculable. The more glaring ones are reported but the vast majority are sub-clinical and result in the "quiet suffering" and the destruction in quality-of-life for millions of people in this country.
People talk about banning guns (I am not a gun owner) how about we ban the poisonous pills that Pharma makes billions from at the expense of public health.
My anxiety with ocd became unbearable after the death of my father because of the family dynamics that resulted from his year long illness. I have always had ocd and anxiety, but I didn’t know those repetitive thoughts were actually ocd. I asked for something and was given sertraline. I did not experience depression or anger on it, but I decided that i didn’t want to rely on a pharmaceutical for the rest of my life, so I took myself off over the course of a three month period. I guess I’m one of the small percentage of people that it helped. I was on it 3 years beginning at age 61.
What a great read! As a teenager I remember reading some of these findings in the earlier 2000s…and it brought it all back…especially your parallels with the Covid vaccines. Thank you for your writing and in depth research.
O.M.G.
Dr. Jha deserves arrest and trial immediately.
Breaking news: https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/3510010-white-house-says-kids-under-5-could-get-covid-19-vaccines-by-june-21/?
I was put on Paxil by my doctor in the mid-2000s. Luckily it didn't damage me. I was in my 30s - maybe that helped. I'm suddenly thinking maybe it was a good thing I avoided therapy all those years. I started suffering from depression in my teens (during the 80s). My mom tried to set me up with a shrink but I refused to go. I may have saved my own life because they probably would've put me on something. Anyway, thanks for this and the companion piece. Eye-opening.
EXPOSED: Bull Gates Recruiting 3,000 Strong Army To Flood Internet With Vaccine Propaganda
.
https://newspunch.com/exposed-bill-gates-plans-to-recruit-3000-strong-army-to-flood-internet-with-vaccine-propaganda/
Another terrific piece! Thank you!
I've been following Peter Breggin's work since I was a clinical psychology graduate student in the late 80's and early 90's. He was definitely a pioneer in bringing the dangers of SSRIs and all psychiatric medications to light, as well as the deceptive tactics used by Big Pharma to get these meds on the market. Because of this, I suspected early on that the same thing was happening with the covid vaccine, and never got one myself--something I'm very grateful for. Thank you for your work and so clearly connecting the dots of the SSRI debacle to what's going on with covid.
Great piece, and it's good to see the Bush/Eli Lilly connection mentioned here. A while back I put a thread together on Twitter about a little-known mental health nonprofit and its likely ties to the Bush family. I think the rabbit hole goes pretty deep.
https://twitter.com/mbneedham/status/1376674299906560007
Thanks so much for this series. I was on SSRI for anxiety a few years ago. Let’s just say it was a whirlwind getting off. My dr said she thought I had a genetic issue with these & was going to put it on my chart. Since found out I did. Learning breathing exercises from The Breathing Cure” has been my best fix along with diet improvement