The Lancet Publishes Scaremongering 'Study' Amid Covid19 Crisis

Published: April 15, 2020
Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic

The Lancet

I've read it.

It's based around one word.

Here are my thoughts.

What the published authors claim:

We explore the psychological, social, and neuroscientific effects of COVID-19 and set out the immediate priorities and longer-term strategies for mental health science research.

What this blog has found:

Mental health 'scientists' claim:

"As scientists continue to investigate the brains of people who have mental illnesses, they are learning that mental illness is associated with changes in the brain's structure, chemistry, and function and that mental illness does indeed have a biological basis." (1)

This claim has been debunked many times by professionals in the field. See here.

What the published authors claim:

"We urge UK research funding agencies to work with researchers, people with lived experience, and others to establish a high-level coordination group to ensure that these research priorities are addressed, and to allow new ones to be identified over time."

What this blog has found:

Prediction published March 30, 2020 (2 weeks prior to the Lancet paper being published)

It will be claimed that many have detachment-type disorders and new phobias. Mourning the loss of loved ones will continue to be deemed as a mental disorder if that mourning process goes beyond two weeks. Psychiatric 'medication' prescriptions will increase as will cases of autoimmune diseases, ironically caused by some of 'medications' prescribed. (2)

What the published authors claim:

"Discovery, evaluation, and refinement of mechanistically driven interventions to address the psychological, social, and neuroscientific aspects of the pandemic are required."

What this blog has found:

A distinction must be made here between what a psychiatrist does and what a neurologist does.

A psychiatrist claims to focus on and treat symptoms originating in the brain that lead to abnormal voluntary functions, i.e; human behaviours, whereas neurologists focus on and treat symptoms originating in the brain that produce abnormal involuntary functions.

Confused? I was at first until I looked closer.

One treats symptoms that "lead" to abnormal voluntary functions whilst the other treats symptoms that "produce" abnormal involuntary functions.

So, a psychiatrist treats something that isn't fully manifested whereas neurologists treat something that has manifested. They do this by using technology, usually in the form of Computed tomography (CT) or computer-assisted tomography (CAT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), electroencephalography (EEG), nerve conduction studies and electromyography (NCS/EMG), and lumbar puncture (LP) for cerebral spinal fluid analysis.

Most psychiatrists use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) to diagnose mental health disorders. (3)

The DSM is a manual whereby 'mental health diseases' are voted on by panel members. No technology, such as those used by neurologists, are ever used.

What the published authors claim:

"Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, might infect the brain or trigger immune responses that have additional adverse effects on brain function and mental health in patients with COVID-19."

What this blog has found:

The above looks impressive until you read that they had to add one word. If you blink you'll miss it. It's a word often used in the field of psychiatry and basically means one of two things - [1] It does [2] It doesn't. It covers both bases but only ever talks about one of them.

The word in the above sentence you are looking for is "might."

The published Lancet article hinges on this one little word, a word that sees authors push for more funding. It's a bit like you or I going to the bank for a loan and telling the bank manager that we wish to borrow money for an investment that may or may not (might) bear some fruit.

The common theme running throughout the Lancet paper seems evident, to me at least.

Imagine, if you will, the scene from Oliver Twist. You all know the one, right?

'Please Sir, I want some more'
(Lancet references to funding)

Like all good articles in the media do, they start off with the main message and finish reiterating that message. This Lancet publication is no different.

"New funding will be required to meet these priorities, and it can be efficiently leveraged by the UK's world-leading infrastructure."

"Research funders and researchers must deploy resources to understand the psychological, social, and neuroscientific effects of the COVID-19 pandemic."

"We propose a framework for the prioritisation and coordination of essential, policy-relevant psychological, social, and neuroscientific research, to ensure that any investment is efficiently targeted to the crucial mental health science questions as the pandemic unfolds."

"Given the need to develop the research priorities rapidly to inform immediate funding priorities."

(Final paragraph) "New funding will be required to meet these priorities, and it can be efficiently leveraged by the UK's world-leading neuroscience and mental health research infrastructure. The UK must connect with international funders and researchers to support a global response to the mental health and neurological challenges of this pandemic."

If the begging bowl references don't alarm you then the published piece, you'll find, is littered with words and phrases that are designed to scaremonger, more so than the media are doing with reference to Covid19.

It's quite shocking to see some of the tactics used in this paper based on something that may or may not ever happen (might)

Here's just a small example of scare tactics used by the authors:

"The need to maintain high-quality research standards is imperative."

"An immediate priority."

"There is an urgent need."

"Must deploy resources."

"The research community must act rapidly."

"Growing threats to mental health."

"Clear immediate priorities."

"Need to be repeated more rigorously."

"A risk that prevalence of clinically relevant numbers of people with anxiety, depression, and engaging in harmful behaviours (such as suicide and self-harm) will increase."

"The potential fallout of an economic downturn on mental health is likely to be profound."

"A major adverse consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to be increased social isolation and loneliness (as reflected in our surveys), which are strongly associated with anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide attempts across the lifespan."

"The immediate research priorities are to monitor and report rates of anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicide, and other mental health issues both to understand mechanisms and crucially to inform interventions."

"Data will be vital to determine causal mechanisms associated with poor mental health."

"The digital response is crucial."

"Paramount importance."

Now, if you, like me, have received criticism on Twitter from members of the Royal College of Psychiatrists for raising awareness about the "interventions" they speak of in this Lancet paper, you'll understand why I'm bringing all of the above to the attention of my readers.

This paper is designed to grab funding. Unlike poor young Oliver Twist, they haven't even said, "please."

The covid crisis has been an eye-opener for someone like me. I am fascinated by people-watching. I tend to watch a lot before engaging, I like to weigh up a person. There have been many media reports of people cashing-in during this crisis, you know, local shopkeepers hiking the prices of toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Many people who are ignoring government guidelines are also in the news.

What I've seen from the mental health field is no better than those selfish idiots and greedy shopkeepers as they push their agendas that covid can cause mental health problems. Nope, it will just cause behavioural problems as people adjust to their new normal. It's not a brain disorder nor will it manifest into one. Mental Health big-wigs have seized this opportunity with both hands, hence the need for them to create a problem that isn't there and then try to convince people that it may happen and to tackle it they need funding.

Oliver only wanted more porridge because he was hungry. Mental Health, it appears, want more, much more, to feed their egotistical appetites.

Hey, don't get me wrong, I'm all for sticking someone under a scanner to determine if their brain is or isn't working properly, I just don't think one can determine a brain default by box-checking a guide that was voted on by a bunch of white-coated men who "might" have just been influenced by drug company money.

Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic: a call for action for mental health science can be read here.

Only one of the authors (panel members), Prof Clive Ballard, PhD, reports grants and personal fees ~  from Acadia and Lundbeck; personal fees from Roche, Otsuka, Biogen, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, AARP, and Exciva; and grants from Synexus

Bob Fiddaman

(1) NIH Curriculum Supplement Series 2007

(2) Mother Nature (Mother Earth) and the Invaluable Lesson

(3) How to Diagnose a Mental Health Disorder

Truth or Fiction: What are Parents to Believe?

This post is the second in a series, from Kristina Kaiser Gehrki, that started with “When a Stranger Calls.” It explores the active role pharma-funded “patient advocacy” organizations play in creating and delivering school-based mental health education targeting children.

“The truth.” Dumbledore sighed. “It is a beautiful and terrible thing and should, therefore, be treated with great caution.” – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Parents in Fairfax County, Virginia tend to be affluent and well educated. The 2016 US Census found the median household annual income is more than $114K, and 60% of adults age 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Well-paying jobs and well-rated schools help attract families to the region. Every high school in the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) district has been “designated among the most demanding public schools in the country” and the county’s magnate program, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, ranks in the top ten of all US high schools. Fairfax parents often spend money for private services (music lessons, tutoring, counseling, etc.) in anticipation they might improve their children’s academic and emotional wellbeing. Therefore, I was unsurprised to see a large turnout at the 5th annual FCPS Mental Health and Wellness Conference.

My work with FCPS spanned more than a decade. The district first hired me as an independent communication consultant. Shortly after, I was hired “in-house” as a central office communication specialist. Later I became a marketing teacher coordinator because I missed working directly with children. I am very familiar with the inner workings of FCPS from district headquarters to individual schools. However, I had never previously attended this annual conference.

Before I discuss the instructional content taught at the conference, it is important to convey some background info that helped spark its creation. For decades, the school district had draconian disciplinary policies ranging from silly to tragic. FCPS made the national news in 2009 when a high school at which I taught suspended and sought the permanent expulsion of a teenage girl who took her birth control pill at lunchtime. The FCPS disciplinary actions made the national comedy show, the Colbert Report. Another student was denied school attendance for nearly two months because she had her acne medication in her locker.

These FCPS disciplinary procedures received attention from the American Civil Liberties Union given that students who were suspected of wrongdoing were routinely interrogated by school administrators and police officers assigned to each school. When principals suspected students of possible wrongdoing, it was common practice to call students into the principal’s office, hold them for hours, deny them a phone call to their parents, and fail to explain any possible Miranda-type Rights. School administrators sometimes told students if they wrote and signed confessions of wrongdoing, the school district would “go easy on them.” Often the adults’ promises of leniency in exchange for students’ cooperation were never honored and many students who signed incriminating personal statements received the maximum district punishment allowable.

The consequences and related downward spiral for two other FCPS students punished for wrongdoing were tragic. The high school boys were suspended and expelled from their neighborhood schools and, understandably, struggled with the resulting shame caused by being ostracized and alienated from their friends. The Fairfax school district stated the boys could face possible arrest if they should ever step foot on their former school’s property at any time to include weekends. This meant the students, both football players and one who was described as a “model student,” could never again attend a sporting event, high school dance or any other social activity at their former school at which their friends would be. Both boys became depressed after their involuntary transfers and both later ended their lives. One of the sessions offered at the FCPS conference I attended was presented by the Josh Anderson Foundation, created in memory of one of these two FCPS students who died.

ADHD: A Sharp Increase in Diagnosis

Given FCPS' long history of severe punishments that failed to use restorative justice principles to help children learn and grow from mistakes, I really wanted to attend the session titled, "Resilience and Thriving: The Secret Power of Stress." But I just couldn't do it considering the ironic title in relationship to the district's not-so-distant past. Instead, I attended two other sessions both of which featured the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD). The first was titled, “Community Resources for Families and Youth.” Instructors included the Executive Director of the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) northern Virginia office, a representative from CHADD’s northern Virginia chapter and another representative from an organization for foster and adopted children.

Some information parents and teachers learned in this session included:

•  ADHD is a serious disorder that has a neurobiological and neurochemistry basis.
• If financial means is a deterrent to have children assessed for ADHD and other DSM disorders, parents can ask the school system for screening/services and some external services are free or provided at discounted rates depending upon family income.
• ADHD diagnosis should not be based on children’s self-reporting of symptoms because “evidence” shows children’s perceptions don’t always correspond with the cognitive and functional disabilities professionals can best identify during objective assessment.
• If teachers share with school personnel their concerns about students possibly having a disorder like, say, ADHD, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act includes “Child Find” which federally mandates that schools locate, identify and evaluate all children with disabilities from birth to age 21.
• CHADD publicizes ADHD as a life-span disorder. The presenter at this FCPS session repeatedly stressed ADHD is also an adult disorder. CHADD has a poster illustrating this life-span disorder approach. 
• CHADD, which bills itself as the National Resource on ADHD, offers a Teacher-to-Teacher program purported to have “expert educators” to help teachers understand ADHD.

Some information parents and teachers did not learn from this session:

• CHADD’s 2013/14 report states it is “increasing service related programs such as Parent to Parent and Teacher to Teacher. These strategies are focused on increasing revenues…” 
• The number of US children and teens receiving a diagnosis of ADHD increased by 43% from 2003 to 2011. 
• The chances of a child being diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed ADHD drugs are related to the state in which the child resides. For example, children living in Kentucky are three times more likely to be labeled with ADHD than are children living in Nevada.
• Boys are three times more likely to be labeled with ADHD than are girls.
• 25% of children in preschool who have been diagnosed with ADHD are being given drugs and receiving no talk therapy or other behavioral interventions. 
• The United Nations International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) expressed concerns about CHADD’s active lobbying for the use of Ritalin for children labeled with ADHD while being heavily funded by the makers of Ritalin. INCB said this promotion of sales of an internationally controlled substance could be identified as covert advertising and charged CHADD with being a vehicle for marketing a controlled substance directly to the public in violation of the Controlled Substances Act of 1971. 
• Ritalin maker, Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis) admitted CHADD was their conduit to the public. CHADD and National Institutes of Mental Health personnel were regular visitors at the Department of Education office of Special Education authoring ADHD materials.
• American taxpayers are also funding CHADD given that two federal agencies, The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) each donated $500,000 or more to CHADD this year.

Before this session ended, I asked the instructor how CHADD was able to offer so many parent and teacher programs, some of which include free dinner. She said CHADD operated through donations and grants. Pharmaceutical companies were never mentioned.

The reality is CHADD’s top corporate donors are pharmaceutical companies. Shire Pharmaceuticals, makers of several ADHD drugs, contributed a minimum of $100,000 to $299,999 in 2018. In 2014 the US Justice Department announced Shire pharmaceuticals paid $56.5 million to resolve civil allegations that it violated the False Claims Act as a result of its marketing and promotion of several drugs to include Adderall XR and Vyvanse, both marketed for ADHD. 

Next in line is Supernus Pharmaceuticals donating $25,000 to $99,999 to CHADD in 2018. Supernus began as a US subsidiary of Shire and is currently “developing multiple candidates in psychiatry to address significant unmet medical needs in the treatment of Impulsive Aggression (IA) and for the treatment of ADHD.” CHADD’s total pharmaceutical-related funding for 2018 is much more given that in 2009, CHADD took more than $1.5 million from pharmaceutical companies alone, roughly 36% of its total 2009 revenues. This includes pharma funds for advertising.

The third top CHADD corporate donor in 2018 is Akili Interactive, a company that develops video games marketed to help treat children diagnosed with ADHD. I’m including Akili’s $25,000 to $99,999 donation to CHADD as a pharmaceutical-related donor, however, because Shire is directly invested in Akili. In addition to the monetary investment, Shire worked closely with Akili to structure and launch the first clinical study of the Project: EVO™ billed as a cognitive measurement product in pediatric ADHD. This week in typical FDA and industry revolving-door fashion, Akili announced it has hired former FDA and Pfizer employee, Dr. Anil Jina, as head of medical affairs preparing to “launch its first digital medicine and drive the aggressive expansion of its pipeline.”

Educate Before You Medicate

Reading the description of the second session gave me some hope. Titled, “Educate Before You Medicate," the session description stated: “Prescription medication are being more widely used among children. However, medications alone will not improve the health of children. Learn about the proper use of common medications and lifestyle changes to help keep children healthy.” The instructor held a doctorate in pharmacy and his bio stated he is a healthcare consultant, entrepreneur and patient advocate.

We viewed the instructor’s PowerPoint which shared data about how to safely store medications, a brief overview of nutrition, and common prescription drugs that are sometimes abused by teens. I waited for some information about adverse drug effects, particularly data that pertained to children and teens, but this info wasn’t part of the presentation.

Some information parents and teachers learned in this session included:

• “Most medications used to treat mental illnesses such as depression, bipolar and others take an average time of 4 to 6 weeks before these drugs are the most effective.”
• Many mental illnesses have a biochemical basis.
• People need to stick with their medication plan and should not stop taking their medication.

Near the end of class, the instructor asked attendees for questions or comments. A parent started asking questions about psychiatric drugs and side effects, specifically inquiring about Zoloft. Out of respect for privacy, I won’t share the gender of this parent or their child’s. The worried parent shared frustrations about the teen’s deterioration. The parent’s frankness surprised me a little given that publicly discussing mental health topics is sometimes seen as a cultural taboo in the parent's country.

The instructor-pharmacist responded to the parent’s questions with something to the effect of “it’s important to discuss these issues and possible side effects with your doctor.” I understood the reasons for his response. Unfortunately, I also understand far too well that doctors are often unable or unwilling to recognize their pharmaceutical interventions have destroyed those they professed to help.

I raised my hand and mentioned akathisia, serotonin toxicity and the FDA Black Box suicide warnings on all SSRIs. I shared the RxISK.org website where adverse effects are reported by actual users. The instructor went over to his laptop and accessed the RxISK website. He then returned to the lectern and shared with the class the Walgreens pharmacy website. He said parents can learn more about individual drugs on this website, adding it was “more reliable” presumably because it was from Walgreens. I replied that I had nothing against Walgreens. (My daughter was a college freshman and worked in the Walgreens beauty department at the time of her death). I pointed out that the Walgreens website likely only contains the drug info provided by drug makers and not by actual drug consumers. If parents look for information about Zoloft on the Walgreens website the instructor provided, they will not learn about akathisia. Further, the FDA Black Box warning is not readily apparent on the Walgreens Zoloft homepage and users must click an additional link to find this warning. Parents and teachers will also not find akathisia info on the CHADD and NAMI websites the FCPS conference instructors praised as valuable resources.

During his presentation, the instructor promoted NAMI. When class ended, he encouraged us to take a NAMI handout before we left.

Some information parents and teachers did not learn from this session:

• US FDA Black Box warning info, suicidality as an adverse drug effect and Informed Consent was not part of the prepared instruction
• A significant percentage of NAMI’s funding is from pharmaceutical companies. Exact funding amounts are obfuscated given NAMI’s broad donation categories of “$5,000 or more.” However, a US Senate investigation into NAMI’s conflicts of interest determined NAMI took $23 million from pharma between 2006 and 2008. It is reasonable to assume this year NAMI collected more of the same. 
• NAMI’s 2017 annual report has a long list of pharmaceutical “corporate and foundation supporters.” They include Eli Lilly, AstroZeneca, Otsuka America Pharmaceuticals, Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Lundbeck, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Allergan and PhRMA (a trade group for the pharmaceutical industry). 
• Pfizer heavily funded NAMI in 2009 when the company was busy illegally promoting the drug, Geodon, for non-approved use in children. Pfizer paid more than $2 billion in criminal and civil fines for pushing their antipsychotic drug onto pediatric, adolescent and geriatric patients for off-label uses. 

One Parent’s Search for Answers

After we left the session, the parent who bravely sought information about drug side effects started telling me about the child’s deterioration. I politely stopped the conversation and asked if it was okay if I tried to "guess" the sequence of events. I asked because I strongly suspected what was happening to this parent’s teenager is similar to what happened to mine. I thought if I could accurately tell this parent the “story” of their child’s demise before being told, it might better encourage the parent to seek out independent and accurate info that could save the teen’s life. I then recounted the adverse effects that ended with my daughter, Natalie’s, prescription-drug-induced death. The parent nodded in agreement as I was speaking.

The parent then shared their family’s lived experience. The teenager was prescribed Zoloft. After starting this SSRI, the teen changed dramatically and started self-harming. New drugs were added and the SSRI dose was increased. The teen subsequently attempted suicide. At the present time, it is unlikely this teen will be able to leave home for college. These symptoms were not part of the teen's original presenting challenges.

I recommended a list of books and online resources for the parent. I spelled out the word akathisia on a piece of paper so that the parent could seek critical mental health and wellness information upon returning home.

"The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.

You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all – the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them." Dumbledore – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

The third post in this series highlights actions parents, teachers and schools can take to improve and safeguard children’s well-being.

Kristina Kaiser Gehrki is a public health and safety advocate who believes our most important knowledge stems from personal experience. She holds degrees in strategic communication, journalism and education. Her teenage daughter, Natalie, died a prescription-drug-induced death after suffering SSRI adverse drug effects that were undiagnosed by her doctor and improperly treated with SSRI dose increases.

When A Stranger Calls (Part One)

Guest post from Kristina Kaiser Gehrki

Halloween Isn't the Scariest Day in US Schools

Most people don't realize the Celts brought the first Halloween tradition to America. What started out as turnip carving in Ireland, morphed into pumpkin carving in America. In typical US fashion, Americans turned Halloween into a booming business. Nearly 70% of Americans are celebrating Halloween today with retail spending reaching $9 billion. 

The American version of Halloween excess is steadily crossing back over the pond given nearly 50% of all UK residents are celebrating Halloween. But while this holiday trend isn't scary, another US trend invading the UK is cause for concern: compulsory mental health education for children. Starting in 2020, all English children will receive mental health education lessons purportedly "to tackle the rise in mental health issues." 

Last year, I spoke with an Ohio parent who shared concerns about her son's school health curriculum. It was an important topic I planned to write about for some time as it prompted reflection on my own experiences as an educator and parent. I've worked on several national programs that benefited children and taught in one of America's largest and highly-rated school districts. Helping students identify their unique talents and develop resiliency needed to live happy, productive lives was a worthy endeavour I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm all for effectively alleviating children's stress and suffering to improve their future outcomes. Why then does England's new mandatory mental health education set off alarm bells in my head? 

Identifying Students At Risk for Mental Illness

Shortly before I retired from teaching, I noticed several changes in my district's annual mandatory teacher training. There were new requirements regarding mental health and suicide prevention. Being the mother of a teen who died an akathisia-induced death, I was initially pleased to see my suburban Washington DC school district was focused on improving children's wellbeing. Regrettably, I soon learned that much of what teachers and students were being taught about mental health was woefully inadequate. Some information was misleading and false. 

During one mandatory Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) teacher-training session, a school social worker gave a lecture about self-harming behaviors. I raised my hand and shared it may also be important for school personnel to know what, if any, drugs children have been prescribed given that research finds an increased risk of developing self-harming behaviors among children taking SSRIs. I mentioned akathisia and some of the physical components children suffering from akathisia might exhibit in the classroom. This includes frequently getting out of their chairs to walk around the room, rocking back and forth and incessantly swinging their legs while seated. The school social worker responded that this information was "too complicated" for teachers and that, basically, once teachers made student referrals, "mental health professionals" would take it from there.  

The next school year began with more training in which critical information was omitted. Teachers were instructed to informally assess students who were "at risk" of mental illness and start an intervention by referring these students to the school counselor. The counselor could then meet with the student, call the parents, refer the student to the school psychologist, who might then refer the student for services outside the school district. During the 2016-17 school year, FCPS made 4,415 consultations with "outside providers." Specific data regarding these 4,415 referrals isn't provided, but judging from the teacher training info, it's logical to presume many of these students were referred to psychiatrists.

While I had always planned to return to my communication career after my own children went to college, my retirement from teaching came at a time when teachers were very stressed trying to successfully do more with less. Many class sizes were increasing and curriculum was expanded to meet the new state testing requirements. When discussing the subject of student mental health referrals, some teachers were worried they might miss possible signs of at-risk student behaviors. Others felt that teachers were supposed to teach subjects, not recruit subjects. 

This isn't to say teachers didn't want to do their best to help children. We chose teaching because we cared deeply about children, so much so that we didn't want to unwittingly do something that might hurt children by starting a referral process that could lead to possible misdiagnosis, a mental illness label and prescribed harm. Teachers are well aware that most parents dread receiving a phone call from their child's school. To receive such a call from a stranger might be particularly distressing, especially if it was prompted by a teacher's misperception. As a result, we sometimes found ourselves in a difficult Catch 22. 

Who's Checking the Children? 

Thinking about my previous conversation with the Ohio parent who expressed shock when her son's health class provided instruction that specifically mentioned brand-name drugs to include the SSRI Prozac (fluoxetine), I decided to attend the annual FCPS Mental Health and Wellness Conference last month. I wanted to see if what is happening in my home state of Ohio is also happening in school districts across America, and perhaps soon, across the globe. The district-wide conference provided parents and community members with an array of sessions to include:

•  "Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Signs, Symptoms and Why Testing is a  Good Idea"
•  "Educate Before You Medicate"
•  "The Neurobiology of Stress & Anxiety: What Teachers, Parents and Students Need to Know"

In addition to the break out sessions, time was built into the schedule so attendees could visit with many of the conference exhibitors and obtain their organization's information. Exhibitors included the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD). 

I left the conference with many treats to include free pens, notepads and refrigerator magnets emblazoned with organizational logos similar to what doctors receive from drug companies. In the days that followed, I began thinking about a horror flick I saw as a teenager titled, "When a Stranger Calls." The storyline is about a high school girl who is traumatized during an evening of babysitting. A deranged man repeatedly calls her and asks, "Have you checked the children?" The police try to help her and soon discover the disturbing calls are actually coming from inside the house.

Part two of this blog post will discuss the scary details of the conference sessions I attended. I won't share them today because doing so might adversely impact one's ability to have a happy Halloween. 

Kristina Kaiser Gehrki is a public health and safety advocate who believes our most important knowledge stems from personal experience. She holds degrees in strategic communication, journalism and education. Her teenage daughter, Natalie, died a prescription-drug-induced death after suffering SSRI adverse drug effects that were undiagnosed by her doctor and improperly treated with SSRI dose increases.

67.5 million antidepressants - Joining The Dots

To put this into context, since I've been blogging about the dangers of antidepressants, the prescription rates for them have risen by over 30 million. Yet I'm 'scaremongering' or 'pill-shaming', further, I'm a 'smeary conspiracy theorist'. All labels thrown at me by people who believe I'm wrong. I'm even criticized because I have no medical background. All efforts to silence me have failed.

Yet the carnage continues...

Do the maths then read the link at the foot of the pictures. If you still can't join the dots then I respectfully suggest a new pair of reading glasses.

Prescriptions - Rising

Mental Health Conditions - Rising

Suicides Since 2007 - Rising

The article below (15 March 2018) features a quote from Matt Blow, a policy manager at YoungMinds. I've omitted the comment but you can read it by clicking on the link at the foot of this summary.

YoungMinds is, according to their website, "the UK’s leading charity championing the wellbeing and mental health of young people." They claim, amongst other things, that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. Further, they claim medication "can help to address chemical imbalances and make someone feel more ‘normal’"

'I tried to kill myself nine times before the NHS helped me'

It was the ninth time in the space of 10 days that Sherry Denness had tried to kill herself. "It felt like checkmate - there were no open doors or other ways for my life to turn, I just wanted to die," she says.

Only just 18, Sherry has been diagnosed with a number of mental health conditions, including borderline personality disorder (BPD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

On seven of her nine suicide attempts, which took place in November last year, the teenager had landed in A&E, been patched up and deemed well enough to be sent home with no further help. Another time she'd taken all of her prescribed medication in one go and ended up in critical care for two days. 

"I was psychotic and I was hearing Kieran in my head telling me I need to leave the house." Kieran is one of the voices Sherry hears - the worst one, she says.

She was 11 when she was first assessed by the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (Camhs)

Eventually, at 13, she was given treatment for ADHD.

"I have been to A&E a lot of times for self-harm and suicide attempts", Sherry Says.

FULL STORY

What was the total of your sum, folks?

Answers on a postcard to The Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Bob Fiddaman

Graphs courtesy of James Moore

Mental Media

Another shooter.

Another number of lives lost.

Another media frenzy that splits itself with reporting about gun laws and/or more calls for a better mental health system.

Born and raised in the UK I don't really get why anyone would ever want to own a gun, unless their life was in imminent danger. (American accent) "Woah, hang on buddy, it's our right to defend ourselves." - Maybe so, I guess everyone has that right. I just can't see why killing someone to defend yourself makes you the better person. Let's face it, you own a gun not to wound someone, you own it to kill someone. The guy that breaks into your house in the middle of the night and puts your family in danger - any eye for an eye, right? (Winks)

The majority of wannabe John Wayne's are pretty sane guys. (American accent...again) "Get off your horse and drink your milk".

We've come a long way since the days of John Wayne, a tough cowboy who would take on the bad guys yet wince like a baby when the woman in his life would try to clean his wounds.

Hollywood now gives us bigger characters, bigger guns, more carnage - (American accent, tinged with Austrian) "I need your clothes, your boots and the keys to your motorcycle."

Let's face it, we like to watch these movies, unless of course we live our lives like Ned Flanders, he of The Simpsons fame. (“Hey-Diddly-Ho!”)

Then we have the gun-totting games on the latest games consoles - have we gone past Nintendo yet? Forgive me, I'm a 51 year-old.

So, for the majority of us we blame the gun culture when we hear of yet another school shooting. The mainstream media, who I'm growing to dislike with a passion, will have us believe that the perpetrator had a history of mental illness and his mom, dad, brother, sister, or cat had a passion for guns.

The quotes littered in these voyeuristic insights of the 'perp' tell us that he (because it's always a 'he') had a history of mental illness. ADHD, Bipolar, and all those other illnesses that seem to have just appeared out of nowhere during the past 20 years or so.

If the media aren't blaming the "brain disease", they are blaming the movies, the kind mentioned above, or the music that the perp used to listen to. Hey, the guy wore an AC/DC cap and they play the Devil's music, right? He had a Judas Priest album in his collection and if you play track 3 backwards there's a hidden message.

Comments under such articles leave me shaking my head. Those poor misguided souls, who hang on to every word the tabloids are spewing, call for a better mental health system to be put into place. What they are missing is that the perp was probably under the care of mental health. Talk therapy, an exercise regime, a better diet are not things your average psychiatrist would recommend for those who have a troubled mind.

Medication, and lots of it. Not one drug, hell no, one isn't enough to fix his mind, let's give him two, three, four, maybe five!

The latest media ignorance has come as a result of yet another shooting (once again coming in America)  (“Hey-Diddly-Ho!”)

Christopher Harper-Mercer, according to the wonderful world media, had an obsession with the devil, black people, women, in fact, he hated everyone. So, what does he do? Well, he walks into Umpqua Community College in Oregon and kills 9 innocent people then, apparently, turned the gun on himself.

Yeh, kinda makes sense. A guy who hates everyone decides to shoot a bunch of kids... in a school.

Let's just stop for one moment and think about the medication he was undoubtedly taking. It is designed to flood the brain with chemicals, those chemicals target receptors, those things that, in essence, fire the obsessive, dark, depression thoughts we have. Now, I'm not going to show you instances where these school shooters have been on psychiatric medication. I think, if you are reading this, you'll already know about the psychiatric medication link with school shootings, if not, Google it.

The Internet is awash with conspiracy theories, psychiatric medication and school shootings have, for whatever reason, made it into a number of these conspiracy theory lists. Hey, it's the gun, it's the lack of mental health care, it's AC/DC or Judas Priest, it's the cat that once scratched the perp when he was a child... ad infinitum.

The mainstream media said so.

Do your homework folks.


Bob Fiddaman

The Paxil Kid From Pictou County

I thought I'd heard the last of the Paxil horror stories. I thought doctors and psychiatrists would have got the message by now that Paxil is not safe, is not suitable for children and adolescents but...

A story hit me hard today, a realization that this abhorrent antidepressant is still destroying lives.

Shawna (not her real name but being used to protect the identity of her and her son) is a mother who has took it upon herself to fight for her 20 year-old son.

The story bears all the hallmarks of psychiatric abuse but, hey, how can you prove that when so many people believe that psychiatrists actually know what they are doing? In truth, they don't, in truth they use people as guinea pigs to see if they can tolerate drug a, b,c or d.

Shawna’s son was extremely shy and had just come out of a relationship. Shortly after he, according to a Canadian news website, "spiralled into a deep, dark depression that saw him in his unlit room, unable to sleep, eat or perform even day-to-day tasks."

His mother did what she thought best and took him to a hospital where he was prescribed Paxil... yup, just like that.

This from the article...

He was prescribed the anti-depressant Paxil which she was told would help alleviate his depression, but instead it made things worse.

Shawna said the side effects of the drug were probably more devastating than his symptoms of depression. He started to threaten to kill him himself, sending her “goodbye texts” and wandering off without any contact for hours and hours.

“It was just crazy thinking,” she said. “You couldn’t get him to do anything. She said the final straw was when he spent 32 hours straight on the rocks at a local beach, contemplating whether he wanted to take his own life.

Shawna's son was then admitted to hospital where, she says, he received no care and was just left sitting in a room  for three days with no visit from any psychiatrist. On the fifth day, however, he was seen by a psychiatrist.

**Insert drum roll here**

The psychiatrist told both Shawna and her son that he needed to be kept on the drug Paxil because it takes 30 days to work properly, despite the side effects.

Where does it say that on the Paxil labeling? Why didn't the psychiatrist associate Shawna's sons actions as an adverse reaction to the Paxil he was taking? If a patient is threatening to kill himself shortly after being put on Paxil why on earth didn't the treating psychiatrist acknowledge that this may have been down to the treatment?

So, Shawna's son continued to take the Paxil.

Here's the article again...

For the next month, she said, things were going from bad to worse.  He was in and out of Aberdeen’s mental health unit as well as Kentville and Antigonish’s units for short three-day stays. After being released from the units each time, she would have to call the police to help search for him because the suicidal thoughts kept coming and the wandering continued.

Mental Health and the Police

Here's where the story takes a rather absurd twist.

Shawna was told by a police officer that the only way her son could receive proper treatment would be if he was arrested. She was told by the officer that her son, once arrested, would then be "in the system" and "sent to Dartmouth for a 30-day mental health assessment."

A few months later her son was arrested for assault. Just as the police officer had told her, Shawna's son was given the treatment he needed - care. He is now on house arrest, under her care, and without the help of any psychiatric counseling.


The family doctor is slowing weaning him off the Paxil.


Afterthought

It's glaringly obvious to anyone reading this account that a 20 year-old kid was given a drug that gave him an adverse event, a dangerous adverse event. His treating psychiatrist should have intervened and guided his patient off the drug - instead, he chose to ignore the obvious signs of Paxil induced mania and told the kid to continue taking the medication. That's abuse by anyone's standards.

As for the mental health system in Nova Scotia, well, what can you say?

It takes an officer of the law to tell a patient's mother to, basically, get her son arrested, so he can receive appropriate treatment.

Talk about a comedy of errors!



Bob Fiddaman.



Source: Mom desperate to get help for son

Guest Post - Rip Van Winkle Awakes Surveys the Damage and Seeks Answers

Following on from Mark Carter's two previous guest posts.

Mark's time on SSRi medication should be a stark warning to those considering medication and those who dish it out.

Part I - Guest Post: Like A Lamb to the Slaughter

Part II - Guest Post: Life ‘at’ and Escape ‘from’ Paroxetine Island


Third and final installment...

Rip Van Winkle Awakes Surveys the Damage and Seeks Answers

Hi, my name is Mark and I am a recovering drug addict.

Even qualifying it by saying I was made a ‘drug addict by stealth’ by my friendly family doctor peddling poisons under a wrapper of fraud lies and deceit doesn't seem to lesson the spiritual heartbreak of this confession. The weight of which I find  difficult to bare at times.

As I write I am now 33 months drug free and yet I still feel like Rip Van Winkle waking up. Withdrawal is like an onion, each month you peel away another layer of drug damage and often you cry.


At 18 months and stabilising I then wrote letters of outcry to major media outlets. I then decided to confront those who did this to me and seek answers. I soon learned that seeking answers from the medical profession was a lost cause for none were to be  found or forthcoming. In fact quite the opposite.

First I presented to psychiatrist Dr SB  at the Te Raphiti Clinic Howick to make an official-in-person complaint regarding Paroxetine.  After having my humanity insulted for 10 years I was now about to have my intelligence insulted.

Seeking an explanation to my withdrawal horror Dr S.B. turned on me and tried to blame it on the Healtheries supplement I had taken. I thought that strange as he was the very one who had said it was O.K. to take. (Part II)

On explaining my sexual damage and trying to get an explanation for it he interrupted me with:

“Have you considered the fact you might have a sexual disease?”

What the … no doubt some kind of Te Raphiti joke!

This disgusting comment was extraordinarily offensive.  He did not ask me one single question regarding my lifestyle before throwing this insult at me. He clearly had no idea who he was talking to. Then when I tabled a research document by Dr David Healy, he refused to engage in it and immediately stood up and said, 

“Right I am discharging you back to your doctor now”

I was now convinced it was Dr SB by name but Dr BS by nature!


I then decided I would make a complaint regarding my plight to the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) and went to advise family doctor Dr W of this and to also voice  my concerns regarding Paroxetine and seek from him an explanation to my very serious sexual damage. When I told him he had chemically castrated me. He dismissively replied:

 “Well, what do you want me to do about it...look I’ve got other patients waiting to see me...you have got psychological issues, I am referring you to the psychiatrist.”

It was now that I decided he did not deserve to be my Health Care Provider any longer so I immediately found a new one.

His parting comments:

“So do you think I shouldn’t prescribe SSRIs then?”, and “I would never have given you something I thought would have harmed you.” , were very revealing!

It is amazing what a letter of complaint to the HDC can do for 3 months later Dr W was in two newspapers singing a new song ‘Fewer Pills, better Life’ and ‘Pill-popping ends’. This turnaround was extraordinary. These stories are freely available to all.

‘Pill-popping ends’

‘Fewer Pills, Better Life’

I then reluctantly went to see the psychiatrist, for one reason and one reason only, and for the same reason I had gone there previously…..to try to get an explanation for my sexual damage, yet knowing full well they would just play games. I wasn't disappointed. Not happy with Dr B.S.‘s previous comments I requested to talk to someone else. I soon realised it was going to be another session of sick comedy when Dr Z. T. (Zero Truth) started off by claiming he had never heard of PSSD! I personally find this statement unbelievable especially since Eli Lilly have added PSSD to their prescribing information.

Here is Dr Z T explanation for my sexual damage;

I asked, “Is it going to improve because it seems to me like it’s been 2 years and it seems to be diminishing you know… I just want to know if it’s coming back or its  going to be permanent.”

Dr Z T from New York on secondment to the Te Raphiti Mental Health Clinic, Highland Park, Howick replied...

“Well I think the other factor that has to be considered here is age, now I  have the advantage or disadvantage of being older than you are and I know that ahhh  desires tend to diminish with age, so there’s that, and then there is also … circumstances I have to tell you that one thing I appreciate about New Zealand culture and on the other hand I have to say is quite different from the States is, there is very little sexual provocation around here women tend not to dress sexually whereas in the States if you are on the sidewalks of New York probably every 10th woman you would be looking at because she is dressed provocatively and have…. so the demure in which you are has a lot to do with it and one of the ways we know this is that ahhh because ahhh stories about Catholic priests and sexual abuse aside, when people dedicate themselves to the monastic life ahhh their  testosterone levels go down measured in this more accurate way as I’ve described um… so…. so  the prognosis here in part  depends  on whether or not you are reacting to age whether or not you are getting sexual stimulation apart from manual and um… and then  there’s the whole question of what role sex plays  for you psychologically ahhhh and um  to what degree  is that bound up in intimacy and that gets to be very complicated, there are some people who don’t have sex unless they are  feeling really close to another person, and there are other people for whom being close to another person is in fact somewhat of a turn off that’s why there are all these people who are married and have mistresses, (said with short subtle nervous giggle), so it can get very complicated and I can’t give you a prognosis!” 

For the audio click here.

It is high time the medical profession woke up and smelled what they are shoveling. This explanation is typical of the self-protecting, Vomitous, verbal diarrhea which exudes from  so called doctors. No doubt these people are actually intelligent yet they sure seem hell bent on doing all they can to prove otherwise! Is it any wonder patients are clueless about what is going on. And if doctors are not vomiting forth nonsense then their self-protecting silence is deafening.

Dr Z T was visibly physically repulsed at my suggestion that he try Paroxetine refusing to consider such an idea, finally giving this explanation as to why he would not try it:

“I would not take anything without googling it first” 

If only I had been so wise. It is obvious he wasted his money going to Medical School. He could have clearly put his skills and money to better use by investing in and working at a second hand car dealership. Dr Z.T.  refused to talk sensibly and engage in discussing researched facts for when I tabled truths regarding GSK and Paroxetine he stood up and said “well you are clearly not interested in our help”. Funny he didn't even suggest anything. “I’m leaving the room now” and he left refusing to talk to me, refusing to come back into the room, and leaving me in the room with two observing students! Let me just say that Dr Z T’s behaviour  was the most unprofessional, childish, immature, rude display I had ever witnessed from anyone in the workplace ever.

I then walked to the Managers office, made a complaint and then left. Interestingly I mentioned to the Manager that Dr BS had previously advised me that they do not prescribe Paroxetine at this clinic and yet the Manager said “that is not correct because we do”…oh boy! There are many who cannot get off paroxetine. Why is this? Well for a start doctors are totally misinformed of the potent nature of this poison. Secondly many, unlike myself, are unable to put aside 3 years of their life to spend hours daily lying on the floor in a foetal position with uncontrollable-sobbing-anxiety crying out to God to take them, while being hit with wave upon wave of traumatizing drug induced suicidal ideations.

In some ways Rip Van Winkle has awoken yet feels he has morphed into a Teletubby, same bloated stomach look, same distorted gait, same difficulty accessing vocab from  brain and (no offense to Lala, Po, Dipsy, and Tinky Winky)  same sexual (in)ability.

I say it is a miracle I am still alive after surviving this hell as such I speak for the dead in order to protect the living. I am gravely concerned that adverse reactions are being greatly underestimated by the public, the medical profession and the regulatory authorities. As such I believe a public health problem of epidemic proportions is unfolding in this nation or for that matter worldwide.To those working as pimps for pharma I would like to say...

“The prescribing of Paroxetine/Aropax/Seroxat/Paxil/Loxamine/any other name this evil poison is hiding behind and its evil cousins (including Venlafaxine/Effexor) must be stopped!”

It is time for Medical Professionals to wise up, man up, own up, stand up and speak up!

Thank you for reading my story and thank you to Bob Fiddaman for being a voice for the voiceless.

Regards

Mark Carter( Poisoned, ruined and sexually destroyed by an SNRI and SSRI)

BSc (Maths), BAppSc (Psych), Dip.(Psych), Dip.(Health and Human Behaviour), Dip.(Primary Tchg), Dip.(Bus), Dip.(Tesol), Cert.(Tesol), Cert.(Applied Theology).

Pending: Dip.(Applied Mental Health), Unfinished: Actuarial degree, BCom, and BTheol.


----


If you would like to write a guest post for this blog then please email by using the contact tab at the top of this blog.


Bob Fiddaman
                                                                                        

Annette Beautrais and the New Zealand Suicide Problem

Annette Beautrais - 'Expert' in Suicidology

A report released in New Zealand last week has shown that almost 25,000 children have been diagnosed with behavioural and emotional problems. The percentage of children with diagnosed mental health conditions jumped from 1.8 per cent to 3.2 per cent since 2007-08. See Number of 'anxious' kids skyrockets

The NZ government have, like most governments, been duped.

Irish Minister Kathleen Lynch Meets With Patient Advocates

Seeking changes. Leonie Fennell meets with Irish Minister, Kathleen Lynch

Two days ago Leonie Fennell and Tony Donnelly, along with a supporting cast of patient advocates, met with Irish mental health minister Kathleen Lynch.

It was a meeting that Lynch wished to remain private and out of the public domain.

One has to ask why?

Is Lynch trying to suppress voices here? Is she merely playing lip service and wishes to be seen as an advocate that is pro-antidepressant use...but doesn't want people to know about her stance?

I cannot fathom why a mental health minister would make such a suggestion, does she not think this is a matter of great public concern?

Leonie...being Leonie, has published details of the meeting on her blog...and so she should.

I'm fed up of governments telling us what to do when by suppressing voices only serves to make them look good.

Well, the meeting isn't private any more, it's in the public domain and if Lynch doesn't like it then boo hoo.

The focus is solely on her now. What is she going to do with the evidence supplied to her at the meeting, is she going to ignore it or just pass it on to departments that have a template specially designed for queries involving antidepressants and suicide? You know the types of letters that contain the words 'benefit outweigh risks' and how they [SSRi's] have 'benefited millions of people worldwide'.

Lynch, or any other politician for that matter, cannot suppress voices, to even think that she has that power distances her from the real people. She's not the only politician or minister that use their power like wand-waving wizards.

We have a huge problem here and throwing a blanket over it, as Lynch wanted to, merely serves the purpose of burying ones head in the sand in the hope that the problem will disappear.

Lynch is in for a surprise as I envisage that Leonie Fennell will not let go of this.

I suspect that the template is already in place and those present at this meeting will receive the kind of limp-wristed response that ensues when politicians, ministers and regulators are backed into a corner regarding antidepressant use.

I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

Read about the meeting HERE

Fid

ORDER THE PAPERBACK 'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman US and CANADA HERE OR UK HERE

AUSTRALIAN ORDERS HERE

Aussie Mental Health Minister Helen Morton in Mud Slinging Campaign

WA Mental Health Minister Helen Morton

Well, it appears that the Western Australian Health Minister, Helen Morton, has joined the ranks of the DeLorean driving posse [Paddy McGorry et al] and slammed those who have slammed the draft of the proposed changes in the Aussie mental health legislation. One of the proposals is to allow children to consent to being prescribed mind-altering medication and treatment such as ECT.

In typical [now unfashionable] fashion, Morton has accused the Church of Scientology of running a scare campaign.

[Insert laughter here]

ABC News Australia showed how The Citizen's Commission on Human Rights Australia [CCHR] have been handing out thousands of leaflets to protest against the new proposals, prompting Morton to label them.

Oh the irony.


Does Morton think that every single person who criticises these farcical proposals is a Scientologist?

The ABC News footage can be viewed here, most striking comment comes from Morton herself, via the reporter:

"The draft bill is just that and it's unlikely than many of the proposals will end up in the final version."


Anyone else think that Morton is missing the bigger picture here?

She should be criticising rather than name-calling, although it's common place for people to refer to mental health critics as Scientologists, usually because the person mud-slinging really does not have a clue what they are talking about and even if they did...they just don't know what to do about it.

So, sit back Ms or Mrs Morton, rest those weary feet of yours and do nothing. Meantime, the draft bill proposal will be assessed and pushed by the powers that be to include the latest set of mental health illnesses that can only be cured by Pharma drugs, in turn making millions of Aussie tax dollars for the current Australian government. Even Paddy McGorry has openly criticised the draft bill.

I'm left wondering what religion Morton is behind, it's a fair enough question, isn't it?

I don't see Catholics, Muslims or any other religion speaking out against these moronic proposals. I do, however, see a growing number of academics and patient advocates rising up, many of which cannot be labelled by the likes of Morton and the rest of the DeLorean driving posse from down under.

When a cause is effective there will be those who wish to shoot it down. CCHR are effective and that, ladies and gentlemen is pissing off the hierarchy so much that the only thing they can come back with is the Scientology slur.

I'm not a Scientologist, despite being labelled one many times usually by my pensioner stalker, a mindless cretin from Northern Ireland. I have many Scientologist friends, same as I have many Catholic, Muslim and Hindu friends. I don't judge people because of their need to have a religion in their life. I do, however, question the likes of Morton who can openly claim that CCHR are scaremongering. I think if she reads the proposals for the DSM-5, she will see clearly who the ones are that are scaremongering.

You know, if I was a kid I'd like someone to watch out for me. I'm reminded of the film 101 Dalmations and the character Cruella de Vil. In this instance the victims are children and not dogs.

Words fail me. Fortunately CCHR Australia are not failing, they are creating an awareness that da man just doesn't like. Da man's only form of weaponry is his mouth and the tired, worn out excuse that those wishing to safeguard children are Scientologists.

Blow it out yer arse Australia!

For the record, I believe in Karma.

Related: Psychiatrists slam WA plan to seek children's consent