A new study pushes back on psychiatry industry talking points.
- Australian researchers note a link between rising antidepressant usage and rising #suicide rates in #youth.
- Their research pushes back on psychiatry talking points that SSRIs decrease #suicide risk.
- The top method for self-harm and #suicide in younger age groups is overdosing antidepressants.
#JamesDonaldson notes:
Welcome to the “next chapter” of my life… being a voice and an advocate for #mentalhealthawarenessandsuicideprevention, especially pertaining to our younger generation of students and student-athletes.
Getting men to speak up and reach out for help and assistance is one of my passions. Us men need to not suffer in silence or drown our sorrows in alcohol, hang out at bars and strip joints, or get involved with drug use.
Having gone through a recent bout of #depression and #suicidalthoughts myself, I realize now, that I can make a huge difference in the lives of so many by sharing my story, and by sharing various resources I come across as I work in this space. #http://bit.ly/JamesMentalHealthArticle
In 1947, Dr. Howard Rusk published an article in the NY Times. The #doctor is advocating for better public education on issues of #mentalhealth. Considered to be the founder of rehabilitation medicine, Rusk was trying to destigmatize #mentaldisorders in the same manner as physical disorders.
Psychiatrists were facing an upward battle. “Madness” was considered an aberration, not a treatable ailment, in a health care system that was increasingly relying on pharmacology. Thanks to a new class of tranquilizers showing promising results, Rusk drew a parallel between diseases of the brain and diseases of the body.
“We must realize that #mental problems are just as real as physical disease,” he wrote, “and that #anxiety and #depression require active therapy as much as appendicitis and pneumonia.”
As a rehabilitation specialist, Rusk knew the importance of physical movement for trauma recovery. He was likely aware of the connection between physical and #mentalhealth. Unfortunately, his good intentions were usurped by the psychiatry industry. Desiring status equivalent to medical doctors, psychiatrists understood that having a “painkiller” in their arsenal would cause the public to treat their profession with the same regard.
The process took another four decades to unfold. By the time Prozac was released on the American market in 1987, the chemical imbalance theory of #anxiety and #depression had become the going narrative in the psychiatry industry. Once a narrative grips the public’s imagination, it’s difficult to overturn. Psychiatrists finally achieved a similar status as medical doctors thanks to the parallel Rusk drew forty years before.
A safety narrative has long been attached to the chemical imbalance story: antidepressants are a safe intervention in the treatment of #anxiety and #depression. As three Australian researchers—Martin Whitely at John Curtin Institute of Public Policy in Perth and Melissa Raven and Jon Jureidini at the University of Adelaide’s Critical and Ethical Mental Health Research Group—write in a new study, that story is suspect.
Published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, these researchers push back on the narrative that antidepressants decrease the risk of #suicide. Since the FDA first issued a black box warning citing an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in adults under age 18, psychiatrists and public officials have contested any link between antidepressants and self-harm.
Antidepressants Can Cause #Suicide and Homicide — Peter Gotzsche, M.D.
Australia, which ranks second in the world in per-capita consumers of antidepressants among OECD countries, has never been provided the same safeguards as America—and the efficacy of America’s safety measures are questionable at best. The FDA first issued that block box warning in 2004, updating it to reflect adults under age 25 three years later. In 2005, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) required leaflets be included in antidepressant packages to reflect the risk of #suicidalideation.
The researchers write that the data put forward by psychiatrists and #mentalhealthorganizations was misleading. Much like the industry ran with Rusk’s assertion, many professionals cite a 2007 ecological study by Robert D. Gibbons that incorrectly associates SSRI usage with a decreased risk of #suicide among U.S. youth. This misreading is the basis of the narrative of minimized harm.
The data tells another story. The researchers point out that between 2008-2018, prescriptions for antidepressant (predominantly SSRIs) increased by 66 percent in the 0-27 year age group, while #suicide rates increased by 49 percent in a similar age group (0-24 years). Between the years of 2006-2016, there was a 98 percent increase in intentional poisonings in New South Wales and Victoria. An overlap emerges: the most common method of attempted self-harm and #suicide is prescription antidepressants.
“There is clear evidence that more young Australians are taking antidepressants, and more young Australians are killing themselves and self-harming, often by intentionally overdosing on the very substances that are supposed to help them.”
The researchers note that the FDA has long been criticized for not offering more non-pharmacological treatments. The cost of psychotherapy is prohibitive for many in the U.S. health care system. The reflex action of the medical establishment is to write a script. When one pill doesn’t work or loses efficacy, it’s usually replaced by another pill or added to an ever-growing pharmacological cocktail. Some people take four to six (or more) drugs to manage #mentaldistress, each one countering the side effects of the other.
Photo: Ryan McGuire / Pixabay
As in America, Australia suffers from corporate lobbying. The team writes that many opinion leaders receive funding from pharmaceutical companies; it makes sense that these figures will tout the benefits of antidepressants while downplaying potential harm. They also note that governing bodies are likely relying on outdated evidence of risk, which translates into a lack of consumer awareness.
They also write that general practitioners account for 90.4 percent of antidepressant prescriptions in Australia. Since #mentalhealth is not their area of expertise, they often repeat what psychiatrists initially prescribed.
Correlation is not causation, a limitation the researchers acknowledge. They list another cocktail, this one labelled “drivers of #mentalhealthdistress.” Smartphone addiction, online bullying, lack of meaningful relationships, climate change, and debt top the list. Antidepressants are not the cause of #mentaldistress. What we need to know is whether they help alleviate it or add to the burden.
This forces us to confront a longstanding question: Why are we treating the symptoms of #mentalhealthproblems with pills while never addressing their actual cause? Put another way, why does the psychiatry industry rely on pills with a long list of side effects instead of addressing the environmental and #socialissues that are at the foundation of #mentaldistress? And why are we putting increasingly higher numbers of #teenagers on drugs that negatively impact their brains while their prefrontal cortex is still in development? This seems to set them up for a lifetime of dependence, which is a great profit model but a terrible #healthcaresolution.
The psychiatry industry faced an existential crisis in the nineteen-seventies when the public grew weary of their growing reliance on drugs. The industry’s response was to double down on pharmacology. Thanks for a massive PR campaign around Prozac, that move worked. You cannot both have increasing numbers of prescriptions and increasing #mentalhealthproblems and pretend that this intervention is working.
While more work needs to be done, the researchers are confident in their assertion between increased self-harm with antidepressant usage.
“These results are consistent with the hypothesis that antidepressants increase the risk of suicidality and self-harm in young people. Furthermore, they provide compelling evidence that the antidepressants prescribed to #children and adolescents are frequently the means of self-harm.”
These #children deserve more from us at a pivotal time in their development. The psychiatry industry needs to come through this existential crisis with better solutions.
James Donaldson is a Washington State University graduate (’79). After an outstanding basketball career with WSU, he went on to play professional basketball in the NBA with the Seattle Supersonics, San Diego/L.A. Clippers, Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks, and Utah Jazz. He also played for several teams in the European Leagues in Spain, Italy, and Greece, and he toured with The Harlem Globetrotters to wrap up his career. James was an NBA All-Star in 1988 while playing center for the Dallas Mavericks. In 2006, James was inducted into the Pac-10 Sports Hall of Fame and also the Washington State University Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2010, James was elected as a board member for the NBA Retired Players Association.
James frequently conducts speaking engagements (motivational, inspirational, educational) for organizations, schools, and youth groups.
In 2010, James was the recipient of the NBA Legends of Basketball ABC Award, awarded for outstanding contributions in Athletics–Business–Community.
He believes in being a role model for success and professionalism to the scores of young people to whom he devotes so much of his time. He currently serves on several boards and committees and is a member of many organizations.
James believes in developing relationships that create a “Win-Win” environment for everyone involved, and in being the best he can be!
For more information about James Donaldson or to request he speak at your event, contact him at:
www.StandingAboveTheCrowd.com
JamesD@StandingAboveTheCrowd.com
1-800-745-3161 (voicemail & fax)
James Donaldson is the author of “Standing Above The Crowd” and “Celebrating Your Gift of Life” and founder of the Your Gift of Life Foundation which focuses on mental health awareness and suicide prevention, especially pertaining to our school aged children and men.
If you’re interested in having James come and speak to your group of young adults, business entrepreneurs, aspiring political and community leaders, and athletic teams, please contact him at jamesd@yourgiftoflife.org and or leave a personal message for him at 1-800-745-3161. Keep up with him and read about how he is reaching out and making a difference in the lives of so many around the world at www.yourgiftoflife.org