Topic : 09/28 Overmedicating America: The Cruise Controversy

Over the course of the last three decades much research into the origins of emotional distress and disturbances have led researchers to embrace “chemical imbalance” as the leading cause. Though the exact mechanisms linking chemical imbalances and common disorders like anxiety, depression and ADHD are not completely understood, clinical studies and medical observations have been able to identify a number of chemical inconsistencies that occur in individuals who report experiencing symptoms related to these disorders.  

Common chemical imbalances related to anxiety and depression related disorders that have been observed in clinical practice include: 

• Reduced availability of neurotransmitters like Serotonin, Dopamine, Norepinephrine, GABA and acetylcholine.
• Increased levels of toxic neurochemicals such as Homocysteine
• Lower levels of serum Magnesium, Zinc or Potassium
• Unhealthy, or deficient levels of essential vitamins like B6, B9, B12 and Vitamin-C
• Undersupply of key cofactors like amino acids that are used to help transport neurotransmitter precursors into the blood-brain barrier.
• Increased cortisol stress hormone levels
  

I just finished reading Talking Back to Prozac by Peter Breggin. One thing he emphasized was that some research shows that low levels of SEROTONIN METABOLISM were associated with depression. But Prozac (and other SSRIs) actually prevent the serotonin from being metabolized by interfering with the synapses that allow it to leave the brain and body. That means that the brain's ability to metabolize serotonin is being impaired and lowered. So it follows logically that it is not a higher level of serotonin in the brain that is needed, but a normal level, and properly functioning metabolism of the drug. I think the name of the chemical used to test this is 5-HIAA or something like that, I will have to check, but that this spinal fluid substance can be tested and it is proven that Prozac lowers levels of 5-HIAA rather than increasing them. I will have to get the quotation later. 

Prozac and other psychiatric drugs interfere with the ability to metabolize the differing neurotransmitters that they target. In no way do they correct a chemical imbalance. They certainly have an effect on the mind and body, but it is one that is similar to many street drugs like cocaine, meth, ecstasy, etc. So some people become drug addicts of legal drugs and end up either institutionalized or in jail for their crimes while others appreciate the mind-numbing or "mood-elevating" that takes place for them and go unnoticed and un"harmed." Same with street drugs, many people take them all the time and roam free, others commit crimes when they use them, or go crazy and become institutionalized, while we have such a hatred and distaste for street drugs, we buy into the notion that prescription drugs are somehow safer than the street drugs they mimic. 

Bottom line: some people feel better on drugs, some feel much worse. But to assume that the psychiatric drugs are correcting a deficiency in your brain is just wrong. They are affecting you, whether you are a person who likes drugs or can't "handle them," they really have no place in ethical medicine. Brain damage is just not ok with me. 

"They certainly have an effect on the mind and body, but it is one that is similar to many street drugs like cocaine, meth, ecstasy, etc" 

I do not think my celexa can be compared to street drugs like cocain, meth, or ecstasy.. although I personally have never used them so I do not know personally the effect they woudl have on me. My brother used cocaine and crack and I have been around him both on drugs and off and I can assure my use of celexa is nothing compared to how he was ont hese drugs. 

"In no way do they correct a chemical imbalance" 

I agree these meds do not correct an imbalnace, if they did we would be able to say "they cure" mental illness, which we all know, at this time there is no cure for mental illness. 

"Bottom line: some people feel better on drugs, some feel much worse. But to assume that the psychiatric drugs are correcting a deficiency in your brain is just wrong. They are affecting you, whether you are a person who likes drugs or can't "handle them," they really have no place in ethical medicine. Brain damage is just not ok with me. " 

These drugs, in my opinion, do make me and my daughter feel better. I am not taking them to correct the deficiency, I am taking them to help manage the awful symptoms that I had as well as my daughter had pre-medications.  I am not agreeing with medication have no place in ethical medicine. I think that these along with lots of other meds are ensuring longer lives in people. My daughter has ONLY been suicidal before her meds and when her medications are not at a therapuetic level, as was the case this last month. 

Thank you for you letting me read your opinions.  

It is great that we are so unique that we in each of our own mindsets can teach others how to become more active in their pursuit to health and happiness.  I am a researcher and do tons of research, always looking things up and always reading new information.. It is people like us who take the time to research who have the best treatment and care for ourselves and our loved ones. 

Thanks again Tammy 

when our now 23 year old son was nine, he was "diagnosed" by his teacher as "hyperactive"!  The school social worker, without consulting us, had decided he had ADD and wanted to place him on ritalin.  My husband and I were called in for a meeting and told this.  We chose not to medicate, and instead completely changed his diet.  Two weeks later, I was called by his teacher and asked what had we done because he was a totally different child.  We were told by the social worker, we were abusive parents because we refused to medicate.  I look at the many teenagers who are two and three medications, which started with ritalin.  People...it does not work.  It may subdue the child, but it only leads to other problems later.  Many teens suffer from depression and social issues because they have been overmedicated.  The average American is on eight prescriptions! 

How can this be???? Because instead of dealing with issues, we take the easy path, and take a pill.  But this is not a solution, it only creates another problem!! 

Please visit www.drugawareness.org or www.breggin.com before you use medication. They can be dangerous. Especially to children. Dr. Lawliss said you can't diagnose ADHD at the age of 5 or 6. I encourage you to wait a couple of years and see if the children improve. It takes time to learn skills for coping, but meds are not a long-term solution. They are extremely harmful. I am a former school teacher myself and I know that teachers (I was once this way) are very quick to jump to talking about medication. Kindergarten is especially hard because teachers don't like having to deal with kids with different incoming social skills and abilities, and they are very quickly able to pick out and stigmatize the children they think need meds. They will be communicating with you to your face about the child's problems and behind your back they will blame you for the kids behavior. I know there were several times I got angry with parents who refused to medicate their kids. It is a big controversy but I don't think any good will come to you from meds. 

As a survivor of Zoloft I care especially about this issue and I sympathize with you because I have seen the prototypical ADHD kids and even the emotionally disturbed kids. One in particular was labelled ADHD and put on meds (but her real problem was that she was a drug baby, had been sexually assaulted at 18 months and beyond, and was neglected and starved nearly to death by her father, her mother was a drug addict and in and out of jail and she had no consistent caregiver even then), she only got worse after meds were started, but they attributed the worsening behavior at school to her family situation (visits to her father, which sounds plausible enough) instead of the fact they were drugging her. 

I encourage you to seek a cognitive behavioral therapist or other helpful counselor who works with kids before you resort to meds. Especially Strattera, which has high rates of suicidality (see previous post of news release). 

If nothing else since you quit your job you could always home school if the public schools are unsupportive and not the best place for your son. 

Good luck. 

While I agree that some people do jump the gun on medicating their children, my son is proof that they do work when correctly diagnosed. My husband and had heard all of the horor stories about kids being missed diagnoed and put on meds at teachers urging. However with our some we were talking with his teachers and doctors and tried many thing from the time he was three until he was six. He started school early due to a speech problem and his Dr said alot of it was probavly due to frustration so we tried the alternative treatments. Changing his diet did not help,  neither did natural remedies. Finally we took him to a child psychiatrist and he diagnosed him. He said the medication should start working immediatly. It did the teacher said he was a different  kid. He sat still, was participating in class and actually coming home telling me what he learned that day. And it is not a life sentence either. I have four  friends who have had children on meds only to say by high school they no longer needed them and DID NOT lead to problems later. what has lead to problems are kids needing the medication and not getting it only to find ways to medicate themselves because the tried it somewhere and found they could concentate with it then getting hooked. So it is much better to get the meds your children need with the supervision of a doctor then for them to get the wrong ones later in life on their own. If a person is midiagnosed it can lead to problems, but it is not always the easy path. It can be but I can say for myself it was not.  It tokk a lot of time soul searching and prayer . My son now gets upset if he misses his medication because he just cannot concentrate on his school work. Do this just imagine yourself in a room with a strobe light flashing. that is exactly what ADHD feel like there is just so much movement you just can't stay still or concentrate on anything. My son has been on different meds in the last two years. But he has been on the same one for a year now  with no stunt in his growth and none of the other side effects that can happen. Now I know as he gets older I will have to watch him and communicate with him and his doctor but it is worth it for him to be learning. I have dealt with the issue and it is working. You have misdiagnosed the whole country,  just because your son was misdiagnoesed by his teacher(neither one of you are qualifyed to do so!!). It does work if properly done. 

SLTELL    

While I agree that some people do jump the gun on medicating their children, my son is proof that they do work when correctly diagnosed. My husband and had heard all of the horor stories about kids being missed diagnoed and put on meds at teachers urging. However with our some we were talking with his teachers and doctors and tried many thing from the time he was three until he was six. He started school early due to a speech problem and his Dr said alot of it was probavly due to frustration so we tried the alternative treatments. Changing his diet did not help,  neither did natural remedies. Finally we took him to a child psychiatrist and he diagnosed him. He said the medication should start working immediatly. It did the teacher said he was a different  kid. He sat still, was participating in class and actually coming home telling me what he learned that day. And it is not a life sentence either. I have four  friends who have had children on meds only to say by high school they no longer needed them and DID NOT lead to problems later. what has lead to problems are kids needing the medication and not getting it only to find ways to medicate themselves because the tried it somewhere and found they could concentate with it then getting hooked. So it is much better to get the meds your children need with the supervision of a doctor then for them to get the wrong ones later in life on their own. If a person is midiagnosed it can lead to problems, but it is not always the easy path. It can be but I can say for myself it was not.  It tokk a lot of time soul searching and prayer . My son now gets upset if he misses his medication because he just cannot concentrate on his school work. Do this just imagine yourself in a room with a strobe light flashing. that is exactly what ADHD feel like there is just so much movement you just can't stay still or concentrate on anything. My son has been on different meds in the last two years. But he has been on the same one for a year now  with no stunt in his growth and none of the other side effects that can happen. Now I know as he gets older I will have to watch him and communicate with him and his doctor but it is worth it for him to be learning. I have dealt with the issue and it is working. You have misdiagnosed the whole country,  just because your son was misdiagnoesed by his teacher(neither one of you are qualifyed to do so!!). It does work if properly done. 

SLTELL    

You didn't say exactly how he used his movie "as a way to put down Brooke Shields...". 

Truth: He didn't use the movie as an opener to discuss the pseudo-science of psychiatry. 

The information you received about chemical imbalance is wrong. The website you saw was most likely sponsored by a pharmaceutical company. 

Truth: The "chemical imbalance" theory is just that, a theory. No test exists to support such a theory and there is no real conception of what a correct chemical balance would look like. 

Look for the money trail to determine who's telling the truth. There's no monetary benefit for people like Tom Cruise, Drs. Thomas Szasz, Peter Breggin, Joseph Glenmullen, Bob Whitaker and Anne Blake Tracy. They speak the truth. On the otherhand, all the pharmaceuticals giants have been making a killing from selling drugs that don't work for diseases that don't exist. And if the truth is known about the dangers of these drugs, these pharma giants could lose billions.