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rense.com
Antidepressants Now MOST
Prescribed Drug Of All
By Dr. Ann Blake Tracy
5-16-8

This past week the CDC released some very shocking news -
antidepressants are now officially the most prescribed drugs on the
market today.

And why is that news shocking? Let's take a look at the facts:

#1 In 2004 the FDA began to warn the public that they were seeing an
increase in suicides among youth with the use of antidepressant
medications.

#2 In 2005 the official warning came from the FDA that antidepressants
double the rate of suicide for those under age 18. This was a sweeping
warning for any antidepressant ever introduced to the market and any
to ever be approved in the future. (This warning was the next closest
thing they could impose next to an outright ban of the drugs.)

#3 The FDA also warned all users of these drugs at the same time that
any abrupt change in dose of one of these drugs, whether increasing or
decreasing the drug, could produce suicide, hostility or psychosis.

#4 In December 2006 the warning for increased suicide was extended by
the FDA to anyone under the age of 25.

#5 In August 2007 Dr. Thomas Insel, head of the National Institute of
Mental Health in speaking of new studies being conducted with the use
of Ketamine ("Special K" is the street name for this sister drug to
PCP - Angel Dust) in the treatment of depression said that
antidepressants produce the same effect as Ketamine. The only
difference noted was that Ketamine produced these effects instantly
where antidepressants take a few weeks to produce that effect. They
were impressed that Ketamine would rid a patient of depression
immediately where the antidepressants would take several weeks to do
the same, yet when one is aware that Ketamine and PCP are dissociative
anesthetics, no one would expect the patient to FEEL anything! [For
two decades I have warned that these antidepressants are much too
similar in action to the hallucinogens PCP and LSD.]

#6 The news came out in January 2008 that the initial studies done on
antidepressants demonstrated that these drugs are of no more benefit
than a placebo. Why was no one aware of that? Doctors and patients
were no aware of this because the very large majority of the negative
studies were never made public.

#7 Although the benefit of antidepressants is non-existent, these
drugs have a very long list of serious and very deadly side effects.

#8 The most popular antidepressant on the market, Effexor, now has
"homicidal ideation" (obsessive/ruminating thoughts of killing and how
to kill) listed as a side effect. The manufacturer had this data for
over a decade, yet they chose to not disclose that until a few years
ago. Before that warning was added: [I will mention just a handful of
cases of professionals who should have known.]

Andrea Yates, a nurse, drowned her five children while taking this
drug. Then, while Andrea's case was in court a female doctor in
Illinois on the same drug, killed one son and severely injured
another. In Tennessee another female doctor also on Effexor slit her 7
year old son's throat and then her own. And then it really hit home
for Wyeth when one of their own employees, Cassandra Burgess, whose
job it was to take adverse reaction reports on Effexor was killed
along with her parents and daughter by her husband who was taking
Effexor. He then took his own life. So even though she heard the
adverse reports daily on Effexor she still missed the signs in her own
husband (although they were there if you knew what signs to look for)
soon enough to save herself and her family.

The role of the FDA is to judge the risk to benefit of medications.
After seeing the studies demonstrating no more benefit than a placebo,
yet deadly enough to produce brutal homicides, why are these drugs
still on the market? And why on earth are they the most popular
medications?! And the biggest question of all . . . WHY IS IT OKAY IN
AMERICA OR ANYWHERE ELSE TO HAVE PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS THAT CAN
PRODUCE HOMICIDAL TENDENCIES AS A SIDE EFFECT ???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We now have medical studies showing that antidepressants:

- are of no more benefit than a sugar pill

- produce fatal birth defects from heart malformations and PPH
(Primary Pulminary Hypertension)

- produce mania which includes: wild spending leading to bankruptcy,
sexual compulsions, pyromania leading to arson, another form of mania
leads to compulsions for alcohol

- keep patients from forming or maintaining meaningful romantic
relationships and that marriage relationships of 40 + years suddenly
end with the numbness that comes from these drugs thus destroying many
families via divorce.

- increase chances of breast cancer by 7 times

- induce LSD flashbacks and LSD like reactions

- produce amazingly high incidents of psychotic breaks leading to an
increase in Bipolar Disorder of over 4000% in one decade!

- double the level of cortisol with one dose (steroid effect)

- produce Diabetes, Alzheimer's, Autism, Fybromyalgia - all of which
have skyrocketed in the last two decades that these drugs have become
so widely used

- produce pedophilia while we now have an epidemic of female school
teachers seducing male students

- dramatically increase suicide

- so strongly affect memory that "amnesia" is listed as a "frequent"
side effect leaving many patients with severe memory loss and false
memories leading them to falsely accuse others of various abuses

- produce serious weight gain leading to many additional health problems

- reports are that approximately one third of pregnant women are now
taking antidepressants as their baby's brains form in the womb leaving
us to ask what the end result might be

All of this helps to answer the question everyone is asking, "What on
earth is happening to our world?!"

And once again I ask the same question I have asked for two decades
now, "WHY are the antidepressants still on the market?"

[For any scientific material backing up ANY of the above statements
please feel free to contact me.]

Ann Blake-Tracy, PhD, Executive Director, International Coalition for
Drug Awareness www.drugawareness.org & www.ssristories.org Author of
Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? - Our Serotonin Nightmare & the audio,
Help! I Can't Get Off My Antidepressant!!! (800-280-0730)

Phone: 801-209-1800 E-mail:
<mailto:atracyphd1@aol.com>atracyphd1@aol.com
________________________________________

Warnings from the FDA Mandated Medication Guide on Antidepressants:

· thoughts about suicide or dying · attempts to commit suicide · new
or worse depression · new or worse anxiety · feeling very agitated or
restless · panic attacks · trouble sleeping (insomnia) · new or worse
irritability · acting aggressive, being angry, or violent · acting on
dangerous impulses · an extreme increase in activity and talking
(mania) · other unusual changes in behavior or mood · Never stop an
antidepressant medicine without first talking to a healthcare
provider. Stopping an antidepressant medicine suddenly can cause other
symptoms. _____________________________________

From the CNN article below we read: "The use of antidepressants and
other psychotropic drugs -- those that affect brain chemistry -- has
skyrocketed over the last decade."

"According to a government study [by the CDC], antidepressants have
become the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States.
They're prescribed more than drugs to treat high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, asthma, or headaches. "

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/09/antidepressants/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

CDC: Antidepressants: Most prescribed drugs in US

Antidepressants such as Paxil, Prozac and Lexapro are among America's
most-prescribed drugs.

By Elizabeth Cohen CNN

Story Highlights CDC: Antidepressants most-prescribed drugs in the
U.S. Of 2.4 billion prescriptions in 2005, 118 million were for
antidepressants Expert: 25 percent of adults will have a major
depressive episode at some point

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Dr. Ronald Dworkin tells the story of a
woman who didn't like the way her husband was handling the family
finances. She wanted to start keeping the books herself but didn't
want to insult her husband.

The doctor suggested she try an antidepressant to make herself feel
better.

She got the antidepressant, and she did feel better, said Dr. Dworkin,
a Maryland anesthesiologist and senior fellow at Washington's Hudson
Institute, who told the story in his book "Artificial Unhappiness: The
Dark Side of the New Happy Class." But in the meantime, Dworkin says,
the woman's husband led the family into financial ruin.

"Doctors are now medicating unhappiness," said Dworkin. "Too many
people take drugs when they really need to be making changes in their
lives."

DEPRESSION SYMPTOMS

Could you be depressed? Not everyone who is depressed experiences
every symptom. Some people experience a few symptoms, some many.

* Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" mood Feelings of hopelessness,
pessimism Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness Loss of
interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities that were once enjoyed,
including sex Decreased energy, fatigue, being "slowed down"
Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions Insomnia,
early-morning awakening, or oversleeping Appetite and/or weight loss
or overeating and weight gain Thoughts of death or suicide; suicide
attempts Restlessness, irritability

Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as
headaches, digestive disorders, and chronic pain

Source: National Institute of Mental Health

For Dworkin, the proof is in the statistics. According to a government
study, antidepressants have become the most commonly prescribed drugs
in the United States. They're prescribed more than drugs to treat high
blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, or headaches. _CNN's
Elizabeth Cohen discusses the CDC study on antidepressants

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/09/antidepressants/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#cnnSTCVideo

In its study, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
looked at 2.4 billion drugs prescribed in visits to doctors and
hospitals in 2005. Of those, 118 million were for antidepressants.

High blood pressure drugs were the next most-common with 113 million
prescriptions.

The use of antidepressants and other psychotropic drugs -- those that
affect brain chemistry -- has skyrocketed over the last decade.

Adult use of antidepressants almost tripled between the periods
1988-1994 and 1999-2000.

Between 1995 and 2002, the most recent year for which statistics are
available, the use of these drugs rose 48 percent, the CDC reported.
Many psychiatrists see this statistic as good news -- a sign that
finally Americans feel comfortable asking for help with psychiatric
problems.

"Depression is a major public health issue," said Dr. Kelly Posner, an
assistant professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and
Surgeons in New York City. "The fact that people are getting the
treatments they need is encouraging."

She added that 25 percent of adults will have a major depressive
episode sometime in their life, as will 8 percent of adolescents.
"Those are remarkably high numbers," Posner said.

While Posner says genuine _depression_is driving the prescription numbers

http://topics.cnn.com/topics/depression

Dr. Robert Goodman, an internist in

New York City, says the real force behind skyrocketing antidepressant
prescription rates is pharmaceutical marketing to doctors and to
consumers. "You put those two together and you get a lot of
prescriptions for antidepressants," he said.

He questions whether all those prescriptions are necessary. "It's hard
to believe that number of people are depressed, or that
antidepressants are the answer," he said.

Goodman is the founder of a group called "No Free Lunch," a group that
encourages doctors to reject gifts from pharmaceutical companies. He
added that patients sometimes see ads for antidepressants on
television and ask doctors for the drugs -- and that studies show
these requests work.

In a study published two years ago in the Journal of the American
Medical Association, actors pretending to be patients went to doctors
in the San Francisco area and said they were depressed.

The "patients" who asked for an antidepressant were significantly more
likely to get a prescription for one than patients who didn't ask for
an antidepressant.

"Patients' requests have a profound effect on physician prescribing in
major depression and adjustment disorders," concluded the study's
authors. But Posner's concern is about under-prescribing, not
over-prescribing.

"Fifty percent of African-Americans who have depression don't seek
treatment for it," she said. "Not enough people are getting the
treatment they need."