“I Did Psychedelic First Aid at a Festival in Costa Rica”
-Eamon Armstrong describes the Zendo Project, and his own experience providing support for people taking psychedelic drugs.
What are the Dangers of Using Drugs for “Cognitive Enhancement”?
-Two neuroscientists call for "immediate action" to better understand the risks of using drugs like Ritalin and Provigil to "enhance" cognitive functions.
Pfizer Accused of Knowing Zoloft Antidepressant Caused Birth Defects
The first of more than 1,000 lawsuits about Zoloft and birth defects has gotten underway.
One in Five Children Treated with ADHD Stimulants Also Getting Antipsychotics
About one in five children on Medicaid who are being given long-acting stimulants for ADHD are also being given antipsychotics, often for unapproved conditions.
Thousands of US Preschoolers Taking Psychiatric Drugs
Over 1% of preschoolers on Medicaid in 36 US states are being given antipsychotics, antidepressants, amphetamine stimulants and other psychiatric drugs.
One-third of Preschoolers with ADHD Taking Stimulants
One-third of US children aged 4-5 who've been diagnosed with ADHD are being prescribed stimulant drugs.
“My Road to Hell was Paved with Xanax”
-Ashley Zlatopolsky writes about how receiving a benzodiazepine for anxiety led to a severe, problematic addiction.
One in Five Australian Families Tranquilize their Kids for Long Journeys
-Nearly one in five families in New South Wales, Australia admitted that they give tranquilizing drugs to their children during long road trips.
The Sunrise Center: A Place For Adults To Recover From Psychiatric Drugs
Many people now using psychiatric drugs have been convinced or forced to use them while being treated in the mental health system. A good number of people are eager to stop using these drugs, but are often discouraged by others from doing so. Many psychiatric survivors believe that they can never stop using these drugs because they were told they would need to use them the rest of their lives. We hope the Sunrise Center will become a catalyst for a movement of people creating places for people who want to stop using psychiatric drugs.
Polypharmacy Poisoning, Dependence and Recovery from the Psychiatric Paradigm
It took surviving all of the symptoms of benzodiazepine withdrawal, including derealization, gastritis, auditory hallucinations, wasting, dementia, panic attacks and profound depression, for me to come to understand that not only had I really been a cool person before all that shit, but also that nothing was wrong with me. I was smart and a little neurotic at times, but that was it. Drugs caused me to be mentally ill where I had not been before.
“Treatment Resistant” Schizophrenia Strongly Linked to Dopamine Supersensitivity
Over 70% of schizophrenia patients who are "treatment resistant" have apparently developed dopamine supersensitivity psychosis from long-term use of antipsychotic medications.
More Evidence Antidepressants Might Induce Sexual Dysfunction Even After Stopping Them
A retrospective study in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry examined cases of people who suffered sexual dysfunction that endured even after stopping taking SSRI antidepressants.
Psychotropics During Pregnancy Raise Risk of Babies with Low Birth Weight, Hospitalizations
The use by mothers of any of four major classes of psychiatric medications during pregnancy significantly raises the risk that their babies will be born with low birth weights and will need to be hospitalized.
Call to Ban “Low Testosterone” Ads as “Disease-mongering”
An editorial in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society has called for a ban on advertisements about testosterone replacement therapy, and the FDA has issued warnings about the practice.
Is “Low Testosterone” Actually a “Disease”?
-Various experts weigh in on whether the boom in diagnosing psychological and physical problems as being caused by "low testosterone" is "disease-mongering."
Many Unforeseen Drug-drug Interactions Possible By Following Clinical Guidelines
If doctors follow UK government guidelines, they could endanger patients who have both depression and any of a number of other common diseases or conditions.
Researcher: 60,000 Americans Now Taking Antipsychotics Will Die Prematurely
-A fired government health economist says that his research was showing that 60,000 Americans now taking antipsychotic medications will die prematurely.
Dubious Amyloid Theories of Alzheimer’s and Drug Treatments Keep Getting Hyped
-Pharmaceutical policy researcher Alan Cassels critically reviews a spate of effusive news coverage about a tiny, experimental study of a drug treatment for Alzheimer's.
Largest Survey of Antidepressants Finds High Rates of Adverse Emotional and Interpersonal Effects
I thought I would make a small contribution to the discussion about how coverage of the recent airline tragedy focuses so much on the supposed ‘mental illness’ of the pilot and not so much on the possible role of antidepressants. Of course we will never know the answer to these questions but it is important, I think, to combat the simplistic nonsense wheeled out after most such tragedies, the nonsense that says the person had an illness that made them do awful things. So, just to confirm what many recipients of antidepressants, clinicians and researchers have been saying for a long time, here are some findings from our recent New Zealand survey of over 1,800 people taking anti-depressants, which we think is the largest survey to date.
Health Canada Adds Suicide Warning to ADHD Medications
Stronger warnings on the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors are being incorporated into the prescribing information for ADHD drugs in Canada.
FDA Cannot Find Conclusive Evidence Zyprexa Injection Killed Patients
The US Food and Drug Administration is still unsure whether a long-acting, injectable antipsychotic killed two people days after they received it.
Cracked Open – Installment 3
I’ve been working steadily on Cracked Open, a book that chronicles my experience being a mother suffering terrible insomnia to a mother desperately dependent on benzodiazepines. I am not alone. I live in a state that ranks at the top for anti-depressant and anti-anxiety meds and we love to give them to women. But I’m not writing this book simply for mothers or for women. I’m writing it for anyone who has gone into a doctor’s office, desperate and sick, and come out with a prescription that led them down a path to illness and/or disability. It happens so often.
Depression — or Antidepressants — More Linked to Cause of Crash?
-Peter Hitchens argues that the public discussion about the Germanwings crash has to start distinguishing between whether depressed people should be flying and whether people taking antidepressants should be.
Veterans Often Being Given Risky Combinations of Opioids and Psychotropics
The vast majority of veterans who are taking opioids for pain are also being prescribed one or more psychiatric medications.
Pilots Crashing on Antidepressants: A (Not So) Brief History
With the current focus on the possible contribution of psychoactive drugs to the crash of GermanWings flight A320 on Tuesday, March 24, it is useful to identify potential links between the effect of the antidepressants and the events. In all 47 cases listed on SSRIstories, the pilots were taking antidepressant medications, mostly SSRIs, often in combination with other medications and sometimes with alcohol.