FAMILY MATTERS
(Part Four-Medications)
DISCLAIMER: The information provided to you in this article has been
compiled from numerous journals, research papers, and studies for the sole
purpose of offering you, the reader, a look at the risks of medication
management to weigh against the benefits. You must consult your prescribing
doctor before discontinuing medications you may be on at this time. I, in no
way, have the legal, moral, or ethical right to tell anyone what to do with
respect to medical management of any kind.
Well, with that being said…let’s get started. If you’ve been reading any of
my other articles for Family Matters you know that I try to write from a
Christian slant. I study and research many fundamental sources devoted to
the discrediting of psychology, especially where it is against Scriptural
reason. But I have decided to forgo my partners this time to allow you to
see for yourself that the psychiatric community itself is not in one accord
when it comes to the origins and treatments of depression and ADD/ADHD. I
will give research findings provided by those in the field to show you that
the clinicians speaking against the media blitz and the over-prescribing of
seemingly ineffective and dangerous drugs are not a lunatic right-wing
splinter group that have a following reminiscent of the “Jonestown people.”
No, these are highly esteemed professionals in their fields and their
research is being found in professional journals, as well as being cited by
other researchers in their own articles.
I’m afraid this week’s installment may be more technical in nature and a lot
more dry than some of my other articles, but I hope it will prove
fascinating as I lay out example after example. I began the series a few
weeks ago by calling it “It’s Us Against Them.” So let’s look at the enemy’s
own words and admissions…shall we…
The major premise of drug therapy for these disorders is that the drugs will
correct a chemical imbalance in the brain. But in a 2008 issue of Society
Journal, research has been cited that a chemical imbalance for mental
illness has never been found. So, it would be reasonable to ask the question
as to whether or not these medications are effective if there is no
pre-existing chemical imbalance. The answer is “NO.” In a 2008 study that
analyzed data on the effectiveness of antidepressants (that was turned over
to the Food and Drug Administration) it was revealed that all the research
combined showed that antidepressants are no more effective than placebos
except in the cases of people with severe depression, where it was only a
more slightly effective treatment option (Initial severity and
antidepressant benefits: a meta-analysis of data submitted to the FDA,
February 2008).
In a 2007 article in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, a psychiatrist
explains that one of the reasons the data is so skewed and the medications
for psychiatric disorders appears to be overwhelmingly beneficial in nature
is because “trials with negative outcomes are far less likely to get
published and that even the positive outcomes are selectively reported.”
This article validates the notion that antidepressants are no more effective
than placebos by citing research that reveals that “despite the enormous
increase in antidepressant prescribing in the West over the last decade and
a half, epidemiological evidence suggests that the prevalence of depressive
episodes is higher than ever,” and that studies cited in the British Medical
Journal in 2005 reveal that “there is abundant evidence that suicide trends
are long-standing and independent of patterns of antidepressant use.”
Incidentally, the highest risk of suicide for a patient suffering from
depression is about 2-3 weeks after starting antidepressant therapy. These
patients experience a mood elevation and begin to have enough energy to plan
and carry out a successful suicide…how ironic…
But if psych medications aren’t anymore effective than placebos, where does
the mood elevation come from in depressed patients? In a book called
Psychiatric Drugs Explained (Mosby, 1997) Healy says, in essence, that the
desired side effects of these medications creates indifference and
ambivalence and an overall desensitizing of the emotions. In other words,
it’s like taking alcohol, which has many potentially bad side effects and
ignoring the risks to gain a little “liquid courage” when needed or maybe
escape from something too difficult to deal with in your right state of
mind. But, like alcohol and anti-anxiety medications, the longer you’ve been
on it, the more dependant your body becomes and the more severe the
withdrawal is once you try to come off your meds.
Two authors in 2003 (Guy Holmes and Marese Hudson) wrote an article
detailing the dangers of coming off of psychiatric medications. They caution
that much of the time, depression is situational (death, loss of job, family
crisis) and if someone is put on meds for coping, once the person has worked
through the situation, they usually want to come off the medication.
Unfortunately, research done in 1998 showed that 63% of people had
experienced problems of some type while discontinuing their medications.
Most of the withdrawal symptoms were similar in nature to having a bad case
of the flu, but in other instances, Holmes & Hudson explained that, “some
withdrawal effects mirror psychiatric symptoms.” It’s this recurrence of
symptoms that confuse clinicians and prescribers about whether or not the
patient is experiencing rebound (recurrence of not completely resolved
pre-medicated condition) or whether this is a new and undiagnosed underlying
psychosis for which patient’s may be put on an anti-psychotic medication.
Very recent research has found that when a drug may be considered for
treating depression, every person is different in their body’s ability to
metabolize the drug. In their 2008 article in the Journal of Psychiatric and
Mental Health Nursing, one of the three contributing authors shares her
experience as her son was wrongly diagnosed with schizophrenia after
experiencing severe reactions to Prozac resulting from his body not being
able to metabolize the medication properly, thus displaying psychotic
features, being diagnosed as schizophrenic and placed on an anti-psychotic
medication. After careful and calculated reduction of the medications over
the span of almost three years, her son is improving. But the reduction
phase took almost three years.
Beware if you or your child is sent for a mental health evaluation for
whatever reason. In 2005, in England, the Healthcare Commission found that
92% of the people in the mental health system had taken medication over the
last year. In the United States, one report has the number of people on
psych medications in the tens of millions. Research has been mainly done on
adult populations and many of the current drugs being prescribed to children
have not been fully studied as far as the long-term consequences go.
Children and Psychiatric Medications
A review of the literature by that appeared in the Lancet Journal (2004)
showed data from published and unpublished research that since tricyclic
antidepressants (Ellavil or amitriptyline) were ineffective for children (as
cited from the Journal of American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 1996) some
of the newer antidepressants being prescribed were ineffective and
essentially more dangerous for children. It was realized that this finding
was reported in many of the studies that never got published. As I mentioned
earlier…that happens and results are skewed…either by accident or purposely.
Whether results are skewed by the research groups or not is one thing, but
there are times when the media has purposely misled the consumer. The
Treatment of Adolescent Depression Study was ordered to study the
effectiveness of Prozac. This study, funded by a US government agency was
found to put out publicity that did not match the nature of the reported
findings. It was reported in the British Medical Journal (2007) that the
very people investigating the drug not only received funding from this US
government agency, but also, “the investigators had received appreciable
industry funding.” Hmmm…you decide what that means. Were your kids the
interest and the bottom line or was it another bottom line that trumped
children’s well being.
The following review of ADD/ADHD medication is from an on-line resource for
people with ADD/ADHD (www.add-adhd-help-center.com). Ritalin is now the most
widely prescribed drug for the disorder, though the trouble with Ritalin is
that the short-acting form of the drug leaves the system in four hours and
so do the benefits associated with the drug. There is a longer acting
extended release form of Ritalin that enables the child to take the
medication before school and since it lasts six hours, no dose needs to be
taken at school. However, Ritalin has been found to affect the child’s brain
much the same way cocaine affects an adult’s brain. If you’ve ever seen
anyone “crash” off their cocaine high, the same experience can be felt by
the children coming down off their Ritalin, which is a stimulant medication.
In fact, the base formula for Ritalin is a relative to methamphetamine, also
known as “crystal meth.”
Concerta is a Ritalin medication that has a 12-hour extended release
component. Now remember, Ritalin affects the brain of children much like
cocaine does in an adult. Studies have not been done to determine the
possible effects on children of having a cocaine-like substance in their
bloodstream for up to 12 hours. But in 2000, the FDA approved its use. Now,
go back to last week’s installment and think about whether or not ADD/ADHD
is biological or behavioral and then justify to yourself the risks
associated with putting children on amphetamines. The resource site also
stated that the Military Personnel Procurement Manual disqualifies a
potential soldier permanently from ever joining the military if they are on
prescribed Ritalin.
This site lists several interesting facts about the ADD/ADHD drugs. It’s
estimated that 1 in 8 children will be prescribed am ADD/ADHD medication at
some point. Since 1991, prescriptions for these meds increased by five
times. Ritalin usage jumped 700% in that same time frame. And, even though
there is much caution about not prescribing to children under the age of six
because none of these drugs have been studied for the safety and
effectiveness before the age of six or seven, children as early as 2 years
old are being prescribed these medications.
The scary thing is that other factors may mimic ADD/ADHD and parents and
doctors may not be willing to take the time needed to investigate the
underlying cause of ADD/ADHD-like symptoms. Incidentally, there are also
many underlying medical conditions that can mimic depressive symptoms, and
most can be tested for with routine blood work targeting the possible
causes.
So, what’s the deal? Are depression and ADD/ADHD true medical conditions
that can benefit from drug therapy that pose their own threats? Or is
depression an emotional condition and ADD/ADHD a “Defect of Moral Control”
that requires discipline and structure? What’s the truth? God knows for
certain, but I have a hunch. As society moves further and further away from
God, we open ourselves up to false doctrines of many kind, including the
nature and causes of emotional and spiritual states.
You want to know the truth about these matters? John 7:17 states that “if
any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of
God, or whether I speak of myself.” But to have that truth, according to
John 8:31-32, we must continue in God’s Word to have the truth revealed to
us…”Then Jesus said to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in
my word, then are you my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall set you free.” Imagine, studying God’s Word on the subject
of sadness, depression, hopelessness, anxiety, inappropriate behaviors and
anything else concerning modern mental health disorders, will lead you to
the truth about such matters. Imagine, God promising the truth will set us
free! Free from what you may ask? Free from the lie that we are not
accountable for our actions; free from the public stigma associated with
having psychological issues or mental health problems; free from depositing
hard-earned money into the coffers of drug companies whose marketing and
research tactics are suspect; free from the possible adverse drug reactions
and long drawn out dangerous withdrawal processes; free from all that…