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Is there a correlation between psychiatric drug use and school massacres?
In September 2005, following confirmation that Red Lake Indian Reservation school shooter, Jeff Weise, was under the influence of the antidepressant Prozac, the National Foundation of Women Legislators, together with American Indian tribal leaders, called for a Congressional investigation into the correlation between psychiatric drug use and school massacres.
Congress has yet to investigate the role of psychiatric drugs relating to school shootings despite international drug regulators warning these drugs can cause mania, psychosis, hallucinations, suicide and homicidal ideation.
At least eight of the recent school shooters were under the influence of such drugs, and according to media reports, investigators working on the Virginia Tech school shootings, Cho Seung-Hui may also have been taking drugs for "depression."
Filmmaker Michael Moore has also called for a federal investigation into school shooters and psychiatric drugs In September 2005, following confirmation that Red Lake Indian Reservation school shooter, Jeff Weise, was under the influence of the ... more -
say no to the Mothers act!!!!!!
This act is supported by Obama
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Questionable use of antidepressants to treat PMS
A small new study shows antidepressants work within hours to dampen premenstrual anger and irritability. It usually takes several weeks for the drugs to start working in depression, and months before a maximum effect is achieved. A small new study shows antidepressants work within hours to dampen premenstrual anger and irritability. It usually takes several week... more
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Take two Prozac and e-mail me in the morning
Ah, the promise of e-mail! The minute I started giving out my address to my patients, I fantasized about how much time I would save on routine phone calls and how clear and unambiguous the communication would be.
Indeed, there was a honeymoon period. Could I change a Monday appointment for Wednesday? Of course. Would I phone in a renewal of Prozac? With pleasure. This was really neat: no more phone tag with patients, just simple requests with simple solutions.
Not for long.
"Dear Dr. Friedman," one patient e-mailed at 3 a.m. "I am having dark thoughts and wonder if I should increase my antidepressant. Can you let me know what you think?"
It was 8:30 that morning when I opened my e-mail and read her message with alarm. What exactly were "dark thoughts"? I wasn't sure, but I had to assume the worst — suicidal feelings or thoughts — and called her immediately.
She came in later that afternoon and explained that she felt bleak and hopeless and thought she and her family might be better off with her dead.
"Why didn't you call me right away?" I asked, as I recall the conversation.
Read more... Ah, the promise of e-mail! The minute I started giving out my address to my patients, I fantasized about how much time I would save on... more -
Sad pets need love and exercise - not drugs
The practice of prescribing medications designed for humans to animals has grown substantially over the past decade and a half, and pharmaceutical companies have recently begun experimenting with a more direct strategy: marketing behavior-modification and “lifestyle” drugs specifically for pets. America’s animals, it seems, have very American health problems. More than 20 percent of our dogs are overweight; Pfizer’s Slentrol was approved by the F.D.A. last year as the country’s first canine anti-obesity medication. Dogs live 13 years on average, considerably longer than they did in the past; Pfizer’s Anipryl treats cognitive dysfunction so that absent-minded pets can remember the location of the supper bowl or doggy door. For lonely dogs with separation anxiety, Eli Lilly brought to market its own drug Reconcile last year. The only difference between it and Prozac is that Reconcile is chewable and tastes like beef.
Doggy diet pills may be plainly absurd, but scientists in an expanding field known as behavioral pharmacology say that the combination of new drug therapies and progressive training techniques can solve problems that in the past almost always resulted in euthanasia. The supposed effectiveness of psychiatric medicines in treating mood and behavior issues is prompting new questions in the centuries-old debate over what, exactly, separates mankind from the beasts. If the strict Cartesian view were true — that animals are essentially flesh-and-blood automatons, lacking anything resembling human emotion, memory and consciousness — then why do animals develop mental illnesses that eerily resemble human ones and that respond to the same medications? What can behavioral pharmacology teach us about animal minds and, ultimately, our own?
Marketers have a new name for the age-old tendency to view animals as furry versions of ourselves: “humanization,” a trend that is fueling the explosive growth of the pet industry and the rise of modern pet pharma. Americans forked over $49 billion for pet products and services last year, up $11.5 billion from 2003; other than consumer electronics, pet products are the fastest-growing retail segment. The market expansion is being driven both by more pets and by more spending per pet, especially by affluent baby boomers whose children have graduated from college. A third of the total spending, and the fastest-growing category, is health care, with treatments formerly reserved for people — root canals, chemotherapy, liposuction, mood pills — being administered to pets.
“I get asked all the time, ‘What is it with this humanization — do we suddenly love our pets a whole lot more?’ ” says David Lummis, who analyzes the pet industry for the market research firm Packaged Facts. “My theory is that it’s always been there, but it’s been sanctioned now. It’s not just the crazy cat lady. It’s marketers and all of this consumer advertising that have made it O.K. to spend tons of money on your pet.”
Humanization has pharmaceutical companies salivating like Pavlov’s dogs. Surveys by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association found that 77 percent of dog owners and 52 percent of cat owners gave their animals some sort of medication in 2006, both up at least 25 percentage points from 2004. Sales of drugs for pets recently surpassed those for farm animals. Eli Lilly created its “companion animal” division at the beginning of 2007 and over the next three years hopes to release several other drugs. Pfizer, whose companion animal revenues have grown 57 percent since 2003 to nearly $1 billion, hopes to develop medications for pain, cancer and behavioral issues. Most consumer spending is still on traditional pet medications like antiparasitics, but Ipsos, a marketing research firm, estimates that at least $15 million was spent on behavior-modification drugs in the United States in 2005. The practice of prescribing medications designed for humans to animals has grown substantially over the past decade and a half, and ph... more -
Is the lady in your life a moody mare?Then dose her up with anti-depressants
Disturbing reports show that increasing numbers of women are being prescribed anti-depressants for PMS when they should be offered as a last resort, and may even be dangerous.
Pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) affects up to one in three women, and symptoms can include feelings of hopelessness, irritability, mood swings, aggression, loss of confidence, poor concentration, tiredness, breast tenderness, headaches, cramps and a desperate longing for chocolate. Ok, not really a desperate longing for chocolate, but those who procure said chocolate will be richly rewarded, Im sure...
Seriously though, PMS can be so severe that it seriously affects people lives, at work, at home and with partners,
"When I'm asked to fill in a list of symptoms for PMS and I get to 'irritability' it makes me laugh," says Laura, 42. "When I have PMS I'm not irritable. I'm ready to kill someone. My last boyfriend said there was no way he could be with me because of my PMS. It makes me abusive. Nothing triggers it, I just wake up incredibly angry. Then when my period comes, it stops."
It's a serious health problem, and one that needs careful treatment and sensitive support, but where they should first be advising lifestyle changes (improving diet, exercising and reducing stress), therapies like CBT, and hormone treatments like the pill and patches, GPs are reaching right for their prescription pads and instead offering anti-depressants to legions of women.
Are we back to the days of simply medicating the mad woman in the attic? Why are doctors offering such drastic treatment without consideration of the other options first? Have you had decent treatment for PMS, or were you seen as just another crazy lady? Disturbing reports show that increasing numbers of women are being prescribed anti-depressants for PMS when they should be offered as ... more -
Depression strikes more Americans than cancer, AIDS, or coronary heart disease
Depression strikes about 17 million American adults each year--more than cancer, AIDS, or coronary heart disease--according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). An estimated 15 percent of chronic depression cases end in suicide. Women are twice as likely as men to be affected.
Many people simply don't know what depression is. "A lot of people still believe that depression is a character flaw or caused by bad parenting," says Mary Rappaport, a spokeswoman for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. She explains that depression cannot be overcome by willpower, but requires medical attention.
Fortunately, depression is treatable, says Thomas Laughren, M.D., team leader for psychiatric drug products in FDA's division of neuropharmacological drug products.
In the past 13 years, the Food and Drug Administration has approved several new antidepressants, including Wellbutrin (bupropion), Prozac (fluoxetine), Zoloft (sertraline), Paxil (paroxetine), Effexor (venlafaxine), Serzone (nefazodone), and Remeron (mirtazapine).
According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), 80 to 90 percent of all cases can be treated effectively. However, two-thirds of the people suffering from depression don't get the help they need, according to NIMH. Many fail to identify their symptoms or attribute them to lack of sleep or a poor diet, the APA says, while others are just too fatigued or ashamed to seek help.
Left untreated, depression can result in years of needless pain for both the depressed person and his or her family. And depression costs the United States an estimated $43 billion a year, due in large part to absenteeism from work, lost productivity, and medical costs, according to the National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association.
Diagnosing the Disease
Medical professionals generally base a diagnosis of depressive disorder on the presence of certain symptoms listed in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. The DSM (presently in the fourth edition) lists the following symptoms for depression:
* depressed mood
* loss of interest or pleasure in almost all activities
* changes in appetite or weight
* disturbed sleep
* slowed or restless movements
* fatigue, loss of energy
* feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt
* trouble in thinking, concentrating, or making decisions
* recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.
The diagnosis depends on the number, severity and duration of these symptoms. Depression strikes about 17 million American adults each year--more than cancer, AIDS, or coronary heart disease--according to the Nat... more -
Psychology Today: St. John's Wort: Perk Up Your Tea
Often, sipping a cup of hot tea is enough to take the edge off. But some herbal teas—particularly blends made with St. John's wort or valerian—deliver a bit more in the serenity department.
Improving your mood is just one benefit offered by a unique line of pharmaceutical herbal teas. Called Good Earth Medicinals, they have been proven safe and effective in helping to ease symptoms of the flu, insomnia, tension, colds and indigestion. Based on formulas developed by Swiss herbalist Johannes Kuenzle, they're produced in Europe under standards that are stricter than those in the U.S.—the ingredients are grown to pharmaceutical specifications and the packaging facilities hold a pharmaceutical license.
Read the full article here: http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-20010301-000040... Often, sipping a cup of hot tea is enough to take the edge off. But some herbal teas—particularly blends made with St. John's wor... more -
Depressed? Light an Incense
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem have studied an isolate in frankincense, a resin derived from Boswellia serrata, and determined it has antidepressant properties. Though it has been amongst many other natural psychotropics used in religious ceremony, it has never before been studied for its psychoactive effects.
Read the whole story @ Reality Sandwich: http://www.realitysandwich.com/depressed_light_incense Researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem have studied an isolate in frankincense, a resin deri... more -
Antidepressants may cause lack of sensation in your crotch
Not being able to enjoy sex? Now that is something to be depressed about.
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Dirt is the new Prozac
This is a really interesting article! We all need to get out into our gardens and get our hands in the dirt--Oh yeah...
‘Friendly’ bacteria activated a group of neurons that produce the brain chemical serotonin.
Treatment of mice with a ‘friendly’ bacteria, normally found in the soil, altered their behavior in a way similar to that produced by antidepressant drugs, reports research published in the latest issue of Neuroscience.
These findings, identified by researchers at the University of Bristol and colleagues at University College London, aid the understanding of why an imbalance in the immune system leaves some individuals vulnerable to mood disorders like depression.
Dr Chris Lowry, lead author on the paper from Bristol University, said: “These studies help us understand how the body communicates with the brain and why a healthy immune system is important for maintaining mental health. They also leave us wondering if we shouldn’t all be spending more time playing in the dirt.” This is a really interesting article! We all need to get out into our gardens and get our hands in the dirt--Oh yeah... ... more -
Stop Faking It!!
A new study shows that anti-depressants only help a small group of the severely depressed. Which re-instates my theory of "mind over matter" aka the placebo-effect. So true. A new study shows that anti-depressants only help a small group of the severely depressed. Which re-instates my theory of "mind o... more
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Antidepressants
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Antidepressants
