Analysis Reveals Suicide Victims Have Psych Drugs in Blood Stream
The findings of a study presented at the annual American Psychiatric Association (APA) conference in San Diego and published in Psychiatric Times may incite another firestorm in the heated debate over the correlation between antidepressants and suicide.
The psychiatric watchdog group, Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), says that in spite of psychiatric vested interests downplaying the suicidal side effects of antidepressants, which they have known about for more than a decade and a half (see video), new evidence has forced psychiatrists to acknowledge a link between antidepressants and suicide.
The study, "Antidepressants and Suicide in Children and Adolescents in Virginia: Toxicology Findings," analyzed toxicology reports in "unnatural" deaths from the Virginia Medical Examiner's Office, and was presented to the APA last week.
Researcher Dr. Antony Fernandez and colleagues found that youth suicide victims were significantly more likely to have SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) antidepressants in their bloodstream than were victims of other unnatural deaths. SSRIs were found in the bloodstream of at least 56 of the Virginia youth suicide victims whose toxicology results were available-the suicides ranged from poisoning to hanging and gunshots.
These findings follow a 2004 warning by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that children and teens are twice as likely to experience "suicidal thoughts and behaviors" than they are on placebo. The APA has yet to acknowledge that eight recent adolescents committing homicide in school shootings were in fact under the influence of antidepressants-documented to cause mania, psychosis, depersonalization, and in some cases, "homicidal ideation."
Despite mounting evidence of a link between antidepressants and suicide/violence, psychiatrists indiscriminately prescribe the drugs to millions, based on subjective diagnoses made without any physical tests-such as blood tests, brain scans or X-rays-and try to obscure the dangerous side effects of the drugs in order to protect billions in profit from drug sales.
Psychiatrist David Brent, one of the researchers in a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that pushed that the "benefits" of antidepressants for kids trumped suicidal side effects, urged the FDA to moderate the black box suicide warning on antidepressants - - although many parents' rights activists say this warning is imperative in upholding their right to informed consent. Another leading psychiatrist, John Mann of Columbia University, further attempted to diminish the negative publicity on such profitable drugs by claiming, "The idea that antidepressants are responsible for suicides isn't supported by the data."
CCHR says human rights activists, parents, experts and others who have been insisting that the public be warned about the suicidal side effects of antidepressants are once again vindicated by this new study on SSRIs in suicide victims. Because these findings are so alarming, the Psychiatric Times published "action points"-in effect, suggestions on how psychiatrists can assuage parents' fears that may prevent them from purchasing the drugs for their children-including telling consumers that the study "represents an association rather than causation..." and that "These data and conclusions should be considered preliminary...."
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights is an international psychiatric watchdog group co-founded in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and Dr. Thomas Szasz, Professor of Psychiatry Emeritus, to investigate and expose psychiatric violations of human rights.
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