Nexus - 0605 - New Times Magazine-pages

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When pressed, proponents of these SSRI drugs sometimes say, episodes can occur" with abusive use (Physicians Desk Reference, "Well, the benefits for the general population far outweigh the Medical Economics Company, Inc., NJ, USA, 1998). risk", or "Maybe in one or two tragic cases the dosage prescribed Dr Breggin, referring to an official directory of psychiatric dis- was too high". But the problem will not go away on that bas orders, the DSM-JII-R, writes that withdrawal from amphetamine- A shocking review-study, "Antidepressants for Children", writ- type drugs, including Ritalin, can cause "depression, anxiety and ten by Rhoda L. Fisher and Seymour Fisher and published in the irritability as well as sleep problems, fatigue and agitation". Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases (184[2], 1996), con- Breggin then remarks: "The individual may become suicidal in cludes: "Despite unanimous literature of double-blind studies response to the depression." indicating that antidepressants are no more effective than placebos The well-known Goodman and Gilman's Pharmacological in treating depression in children and adolescents, such medica- Basis of Therapeutics reveals a strange fact. It states that Ritalin tions continue to be in wide use." is "...structurally related to amphetamines... Its pharmacological There are other studies: properties are essentially the same as those of the amphetamines." ¢ In the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (vol. 30, 1991), an article, "Emergence of | DRUG COMBINATIONS & ADVERSE SIDE-EFFECTS self-destructive phenomena in children and adolescents during In Toxic Psychiatry, Dr Breggin discusses the subject of drug fluoxetine treatment", written by R.A. King, R.A. Riddle et al., combinations: "Combining antidepressants [e.g., Prozac, Luvox] reports self-destructive phenomena in 14 per cent (6 out of 42) of | and psychostimulants [e.g., Ritalin] increases the risk of cardio- children and adolescents (10 to 17 years old) who had treatment vascular catastrophe, seizures, sedation, euphoria and psychosis. with fluoxetine (Prozac) for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Withdrawal from the combination can cause a severe reaction that ¢ In the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, July 1991, includes confusion, emotional instability, agitation and Hisako Koizumi, MD, describes a 13-year-old boy who was on aggression." Prozac as "full of energy", "hyperactive" and "clown-like", but Children are frequently medicated with this combination, and who devolved into sudden violent actions which were "totally when we highlight such effects as aggression, psychosis and emo- unlike him". tional instability, it is obvious that the result is pointing towards ¢ In the Journal of the American Academy of Child and the very real possibility of violence. Adolescent Psychiatry, September 1991, author Laurence Jerome In 1986, the International Journal of the Addictions (21[7]:837- reports the case of a 10-year-old who 841) published a most important liter- moved with his family to a new loca- " . . . ature review by Richard Scarnati, tion. Becoming depressed, the boy Despite unanimous literature titled "An Outline of Hazardous Side was put on Prozac by a doctor. The of double-blind studies indicating Elects of Ritalin (Methylphenidate)” oy was then "hyperactive, agitat- that antidepressants are no more carnati listed over a hundred adverse ed...irritable" and made a "somewhat effects of Ritalin, and indexed pub- grandiose assessment of his own effective than placebos in treating lished journal articles for each of abilities". He called a stranger on A A A these symptoms. the phone and said he was going to depression in children and For every one of the following kill him. The Prozac was stopped, adolescents, such medications (selected and quoted verbatim) Ritalin and the symptoms disappeared. continue to be in wide use." side-effects, then, there is at least one confirming source in the medical RITALIN: AMPHETAMINES literature: FOR HYPERACTIVITY Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases * Paranoid delusions A December 1, 1996 Cox News (184[2], 1996) + Paranoid psychosis Service newswire story by Gary Kane states: "Scores of young men ¢ Hypomanic and manic symptoms, amphetamine-like psychosis and women across the country are learning that the Ritalin they * Activation of psychotic symptoms took as teenagers is stopping them from serving their country or * Toxic psychosis starting a military career." « Visual hallucinations Kane continues: "All branches of the armed forces reject * Auditory hallucinations potential enlistees who use Ritalin or similar behavior-modifying * Can surpass LSD in producing bizarre experiences medications... And people who took Ritalin as teenagers to treat + Affects pathological thought processes ADD, an inhibitor of academic skills, are rejected from military ¢ Extreme withdrawal service, even if they no longer take the medication." * Terrified effect Ritalin, manufactured by Novartis, is the close cousin to * Started screaming "speed" and is given to perhaps two million American school- « Aggressiveness children for a condition called Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) ¢ Insomnia or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADD and « Since Ritalin is considered an amphetamine-type drug, expect ADHD, for which no organic causes have ever been found, are amphetamine-like effects touted as disease conditions that afflict the young, causing hyper- * Psychic dependence activity, unmanageability and learning problems. Of course, ¢ High-abuse potential, DEA Schedule II Drug when you name a disorder or a syndrome and yet can find no ¢ Decreased REM sleep single, provable organic cause for it, you have nothing more than ¢ When used with antidepressants, one may see dangerous a loose collection of behaviours with an arbitrary title. reactions including hypertension, seizures and hypothermia Correction: you also have a pharmaceutical bonanza. * Convulsions Even Ritalin's manufacturer warns that "frank psychotic « Brain damage may be seen with amphetamine abuse. episodes can occur" with abusive use (Physicians Desk Reference, Medical Economics Company, Inc., NJ, USA, 1998). Dr Breggin, referring to an official directory of psychiatric dis- orders, the DSM-III-R, writes that withdrawal from amphetamine- type drugs, including Ritalin, can cause "depression, anxiety and irritability as well as sleep problems, fatigue and agitation". Breggin then remarks: "The individual may become suicidal in response to the depression." The well-known Goodman and Gilman's Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics reveals a strange fact. It states that Ritalin is "...structurally related to amphetamines... Its pharmacological properties are essentially the same as those of the amphetamines." "Despite unanimous literature of double-blind studies indicating that antidepressants are no more effective than placebos in treating depression in children and adolescents, such medications continue to be in wide use." Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases (184[2], 1996) 30 + NEXUS AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 1999