Usage of psychiatric drugs goes up all the time, almost like a law of nature. This does not reflect genuine needs for the drugs but drug marketing and corruption of doctors, drug agencies, the media, medical journals, politicians, and the science.1,2
We have a mental health crisis because the existing approaches that focus on drugs are not working and worsen the outcomes.3 In the UK, mental health disability has almost trebled in recent decades, and the gap in life expectancy between people with severe mental health issues and the general population has doubled.4 The United Nations and the World Health Organisation have therefore recently called for systematic mental health reform emphasising psychosocial interventions, human rights, no coercion and informed consent.4,5
The forces that result in overdiagnosis and overmedication of our populations are so strong that it is usually impossible to do anything effectively to lower the drugging. But in Denmark, after many years with a steadily increasing sales curve, the number of children and adolescents in treatment with depression pills decreased by 41%, from 2010 to 2016.6 In the same period, the number of children in treatment in Norway increased by 40% and in Sweden by 82% (see figure).
In 2011, I began to warn strongly against the increased suicide risk of depression pills in children and adolescents after Lundbeck’s CEO in a radio broadcast had claimed that the pills protect against suicide.6 I repeated my warnings countless times on radio, in TV, articles, books and lectures and told people not to use these drugs.6
This might have played a role for the decline in usage in Denmark, as no one in Norway or Sweden did anything similar. In 2011, the Danish Board of Health reminded family doctors that they should not write prescriptions for depression pills for children, which was a task for psychiatrists. But as they had done this before, to little effect, this was likely not the reason for the marked decline in usage.
However, the media lost interest in this issue, which made it more difficult for me to repeat my warnings. I hoped doctors had learned a lesson they wouldn’t forget, but usage went up again (see figure).
As the Danish Drug Statistics have changed their age intervals for reporting, I could not show the updated data for the 0-19 years age group. I have shown the usage data for people up to 24 years of age,7 which is a highly relevant age group because the FDA issued a black box warning in 2004, updated in 2006, about the increased suicide risk of depression drugs in this age group.
It is disturbing that when there are no longer any warnings in the media, the dark forces take over again. The usage of depression pills in young people is now larger than ever before in Denmark.
Leading professors of psychiatry in the whole world continue to lie about what these drugs do to people claiming that they protect against suicide.1,6 And as guidelines and so-called suicide experts continue recommending depression drugs for people at risk of suicide,1 it is not surprising that suicide prevention programmes all over the world have increased suicides.8,9
Depression pills double the risk of suicide, both in children10,11 and adults.12,13 Can anything be worse than driving children to suicide with pills that don’t work for them10,11 while telling them that the pills protect against suicide? It is a betrayal so deep that I don’t know what to say other than what I said in 2014 in a major Danish newspaper article translated into English.14 It ended this way:
Our citizens would be far better off if we removed all the psychotropic drugs from the market, as doctors are unable to handle them. It is inescapable that their availability creates more harm than good. Psychiatrists should therefore do everything they can to treat as little as possible, in as short time as possible, or not at all, with psychotropic drugs.
References
1 Gøtzsche PC. Is psychiatry a crime against humanity? Copenhagen: Institute for Scientific Freedom; 2024 (freely available).
2 Gøtzsche PC. Whistleblower in healthcare. Copenhagen: Institute for Scientific Freedom 2025; April 8 (freely available).
3 Whitaker R. Anatomy of an Epidemic, 2nd edition. New York: Broadway Paperbacks; 2015.
4 Shifting the balance towards social interventions: a call for an overhaul of the mental health system. Beyond Pills All-Party Parliamentary Group 2024; May.
5 New WHO guidance calls for urgent transformation of mental health policies. WHO 2025; March 25.
6 Gøtzsche PC. Usage of depression pills almost halved among children in Denmark. Mad in America 2018; May 4.
8 Whitaker R. Suicide in the age of Prozac. Mad in America 2018; Aug 6.
9 Whitaker R, Blumke D. Screening + drug treatment = increase in veteran suicides. Mad in America 2019; Nov 10.
10 Gøtzsche PC. Deadly psychiatry and organised denial. Copenhagen: People’s Press; 2015.
11 Gøtzsche PC, Healy D. Restoring the two pivotal fluoxetine trials in children and adolescents with depression. Int J Risk Saf Med 2022;33:385-408. Full article available here.
12 Hengartner MP, Plöderl M. Newer-generation antidepressants and suicide risk in randomized controlled trials: a re-analysis of the FDA database. Psychother Psychosom 2019;88:247-8.
13 Hengartner MP, Plöderl M. Reply to the Letter to the Editor: “Newer-Generation Antidepressants and Suicide Risk: Thoughts on Hengartner and Plöderl’s ReAnalysis.” Psychother Psychosom 2019;88:373-4.
14 Gøtzsche PC. Psychiatry gone astray. Mad in America 2014; Jan 28.
“Our citizens would be far better off if we removed all the psychotropic drugs from the market, as doctors are unable to handle them. It is inescapable that their availability creates more harm than good. Psychiatrists should therefore do everything they can to treat as little as possible, in as short time as possible, or not at all, with psychotropic drugs.”
Exactly, I agree… And there is/may be more. Look… Giving psychiatric drugs to children and adolescents causes permanent chemical brain damage (at least in the future). Let me tell you about my observations.
I was taking my sister to the community mental health unit. Actually, this place looked like nothing more than a psychiatric clinic that prescribed toxic psychiatric drugs to people. It doesn’t matter whether you go to a psychiatric clinic or a mental health unit. They have the same function. The community mental health units of hospitals are nothing but a scam. Anyway..
When we came to this unit and to other psychiatric clinics of hospitals that provide outpatient treatment and examination… I also saw the young people who came to these places. Their conditions were miserable. It was as if their brains had been permanently damaged chemically. This was noticeable. You could tell this from their speech. They couldn’t speak properly. There is a constant absent-mindedness. They had speech disorders. They couldn’t think clearly. Etc. etc.
It was obvious that they had been taking psychiatric medication for months and/or years. This explains everything actually. This is an explanation of how their healthy brains were damaged. They do not know that their healthy brains have been permanently damaged chemically. Some do not even know why they are taking psychiatric medication. There seems to be pressure from states, families and other relatives, and peer pressure is also included in this.
Unfortunately.. Psychiatrists are clearly poisoning these people. They are damaging their healthy brains. And they are calling it “mental health treatment.”
Not just children and teenagers.. Millions of other adults are in the same situation.
Along with the ‘licensed charlatan and psychopathic psychiatrists’ who obey mainstream psychiatry…. states, courts, ‘non-governmental organizations, societies and even the mainstream medical community…. now consider ‘chemically damaging people’s healthy brains as mental health treatment’. Unfortunately, mental health systems in almost all countries of the world consider permanently damaging people’s healthy brains as a skill and call it ‘mental health treatment’.
Governments, societies and the medical community do not care that people’s healthy brains are damaged by psychiatric drugs. It is as if their eyes cannot see anything. But people are damaged.
Probably… Every year, tens/hundreds of millions (at least more than 1 million) people die and are disabled (injured) due to psychiatric drugs (worldwide).
Probably… Tens/hundreds of millions of people worldwide are subjected to a ‘chemical lobotomy’ in their own homes every day due to psychiatric medications. Chemical lobotomy is the name given to permanent brain damage caused by chemicals.
Probably… One or more psychiatric drugs taken every day cause at least 1 million people (perhaps more) to suffer permanent chemically induced brain damage (chemical lobotomy) each year.
How do we know this? Just look around you.. It is extremely important to know that the vast majority (if not all) of the people who have to stay in mental hospitals, psychiatric wards and other units of the mental health system such as ‘rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, care homes’ etc…. for the rest of their lives (until they die)… may be caused by psychiatric drugs.
If you want, just look around you. Look around you. You will also see people who are harmed by psychiatric drugs;
“You can usually tell if a person has permanent brain damage from chemical causes due to psychiatric medications by the way their speech is disrupted (disorganized). This is a very subjective specification. There are also other causes such as absent-mindedness, inactivity, and/or hyperactivity. Involuntary movement of the hands and fingers while talking and/or standing still is also a sign of this chemical brain damage. (This is a trait I noticed in my sister.) And other causes that we can’t think of..”
One of the harms of psychiatric drugs is that people get various other deadly physical diseases. Probably… Every year, at least more 1 million people worldwide are disabled (injured, that is, afflicted with various physical and mental illnesses and disorders) by psychiatric drugs. Excluding deaths.. Deaths and injuries from psychiatric drugs may be higher.
It may be important to know that for every healthy person living worldwide, 1 or more people may be using psychiatric medication. This could show us that 1 in 10 people may be using psychiatric medication.
If psychiatrists who obey mainstream psychiatry were real doctors…. even though they know that psychiatric drugs are so dangerous and deadly (and that they do not work at all)… they would not prescribe these poisonous and deadly psychiatric drugs to their patients and they would be fighting against mainstream psychiatry. However, since mainstream psychiatrists are not doctors (and have no sense of pity), it is quite can be normal to expect such ‘psychotic behavior’ from them.
As a final word.. Psychiatric drugs should be banned not only for children and adolescents, but also for adults. Probably… Psychiatry is committing the greatest genocide of the 21st century every year. At least 1 million people die and are injured every year from psychiatric drugs and other harmful and lethal psychiatric treatments such as ECT. My call to the medical community… do not turn a blind eye to this genocide of psychiatry anymore. Record and document the deaths and injuries caused by psychiatric drugs. Do not cover them up. My call to the US administration, politicians, and honest doctors, psychiatrists, journalists, writers and other sensible citizens… Please do something about this. Thanks.. Best regards…
Thanks Peter C. Gøtzsche….
With my best wishes. 🙂 Yildirim E. (Researcher blog writer (Blogger))
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Mental Health – one can be institutionalised, or private hospital, facility for as long as there is health insurance coverage; when that runs out it brings about a miraculous recovery and the person is discharged.
Public mental health facilities have a turnaround of two weeks – another miracle.
Note that the person does not really factor into the equation.
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That happened to me, Vee. Thank goodness my insurance company refused to pay for me to be institutionalized for life, by doctors, one of whom was eventually convicted by the FBI.
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Psychiatric harms and injuries might be a bonus for those seeking freedom from responsibilities, duties, obligations! And for those standing first in line for assets and inheritances! And maybe especially so for those who hold legal powers over others!
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I agree, Dr. Peter, prescribing of depression pills absolutely must end in all of child bearing age, and younger. But I don’t think there is a need for use of that class of drugs, for anyone of any age, in the long run. Thus, I believe use of antidepressants should eventually end – let those on them, who find them useful, or don’t want to go through withdrawal, stay on them; but wean those who want to be taken off them, off them.
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