Thirty-three years ago, in August 1983, an article titled Suicide Associated with Akathisia and Depot Fluphenazine Treatment appeared in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. The authors were Katherine Shear, MD, Allen Frances, MD, and Peter Weiden, MD. Here are some quotes, interspersed with my comments/observations: “Akathisia is a common and distressing side effect of neuroleptic… Continue Reading
A Bill to Explore the Relationship Between Veteran Suicides and Prescription Medication
On September 28, US Senator John McCain (R-AZ) introduced a bill in the Senate titled Veteran Overmedication Prevention Act (S. 3410). This is a companion bill to HR 4640, Veteran Suicide Prevention Act introduced in the House by Congressman David Jolly (R-FL) earlier this year. The objective of both bills is to combat suicide deaths… Continue Reading
Antidepressant Drugs and Suicide Rates
In 2010, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica published a study by Göran Isacsson et al. The paper was titled Antidepressant medication prevents suicide in depression. Here’s the conclusion: “The finding that in-patient care for depression did not increase the probability of the detection of antidepressants in suicides is difficult to explain other than by the assumption that… Continue Reading
More Bogus Conclusions From More Bogus Research
Robert Findling, MD, is a pediatrician and a psychiatrist. He is the Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, and Vice President of Psychiatric Services and Research at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. On July 31, Dr. Findling published a brief video (and article) on Medscape: Adverse Events Caused by a Drug… Continue Reading
Suicidal Behavior After FDA Warnings
On June 18, the British Medical Journal published an article by Christine Lu et al, titled Changes in antidepressant use by young people and suicidal behavior after FDA warnings and media coverage: quasi-experimental study. Here’s the conclusion paragraph from the abstract: “Safety warnings about antidepressants and widespread media coverage decreased antidepressant use, and there were… Continue Reading
Another Survivor’s Tale
My Story I tried to commit suicide for the first time when I was 15. I spent my 16th birthday locked up in Dammasch State Mental Hospital, I freaked out when I was told I was going to have to stay so my clothes were ripped off me, by male aids and I was thrown naked in a… Continue Reading
Antidepressants and Suicide
There was an interesting article, Antidepressant regulations tightened following suicide, in the Copenhagen Post on January 7. Thanks to Mad in America for the link. It is reported that Danilo Terrida, aged 20, committed suicide in 2011 “…eleven days after he was prescribed antidepressants following an eight-minute-long conversation with a doctor.” The doctor has been deemed… Continue Reading
Sandy Hook Massacre: The Unanswered Question
On December 27, 2013, Connecticut State Police issued a 7,000-page, heavily redacted, report on the massacre that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School just over a year earlier (December 14, 2012). For the record, I have not read the 7,000-page report, but I have read the Wikipedia article Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, last updated… Continue Reading
CAFÉ Study: Real Science or Marketing Exercise?
BACKGROUND On December 8, I received the following question from a reader: (The subject matter is the controversial CAFÉ – Comparisons of Atypicals in First Episode of Psychosis – study. This was the study in which Dan Markingson committed suicide.) “It appears that there was no head-to-head with a control group taking a placebo pill…. Continue Reading
Psychiatry and Suicide Prevention: A 30-year Failed Experiment
There’s an interesting article on Mad in America dated September 17, 2013. It’s titled Psychiatry & Suicide Prevention: A 30-year Failed Experiment, and was written by Maria Bradshaw. Maria Bradshaw is the founder of CASPER, an organization that rejects the medical model of suicide prevention in favor of a sociological model. Ms. Bradshaw founded CASPER… Continue Reading
Psychiatry Is Intrinsically Flawed and Rotten
On Twitter yesterday, Robert Stamatakis commented: “I have to ask, I don’t understand. Do you work in the UK? Your descriptions of psychiatry are nothing I recognize. These descriptions of psychiatry are nothing like the practice I see on a daily basis.” I am certainly a very outspoken critic of psychiatry, and in that regard… Continue Reading
Psychiatric Drugs and Suicide
Courtesy of yobluemama2 on Twitter, I’ve come across an interesting article. It’s called Psychiatric Drugs and Suicide, by Janne Larsson, a reporter. It’s posted on PsychRights.org, a law project for psychiatric rights. The article focuses on suicides committed in Sweden in 2006-2007, and the proportions of victims who had taken psychiatric drugs in the period… Continue Reading
Suicide and Antidepressants: Psychiatry’s Watergate
Carl Elliot has an interesting post up about the possible link between the military’s increased use of psychotropic drugs and the concomitant increase in soldiers’ suicide rates. It’s titled Note to New York Times reporters: Read the New York Times. Here’s a quote: “Like many reporters before them, James Dao and Andrew Lehren, [NY… Continue Reading
Pharma and Mental Health: Hand-in-Glove
Another interesting article: Academic Integrity in Ireland and the UK: Is there any such thing? at Leonie fennells’ Blog. It’s about financial ties between pharmaceutical companies and psychiatrists. Same old story; different location. It’s worth a look. Thanks to Becky @yobluemama2 on Twitter for drawing my attention to this.
SSRI’s and Suicide Risk for Adolescents
This issue has been debated for years, but was finally considered to have been put to rest by NIMH’s 2004 Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS). This study essentially “found” that fluoxetine (Prozac) was effective in treating depression and did not involve an increased risk of suicide. Robert Whitaker’s most recent post points out… Continue Reading