Link Between Antidepressant Drugs And Suicide Kept Under Wraps

During the past few months mental health issues have enjoyed some of the media spotlight. And that’s a good thing, because if there is one thing the “black sheep” of medicine really needs then it is open and honest dialogue about something many of us will experience at some point in our lives. However, what we don’t need is more antipsychotic or antidepressant drugs, because as it turns out these drugs may very well increase the very symptoms they are supposed to prevent, like suicidal thoughts or committing suicide.

Worst still, you and I have deliberately been kept in the dark about the risk of these side effects and the scale at which they occur.

Not so rare

We’ve known for some time now that antidepressant drugs like Paxil, Prozac, or Zoloft can cause suicidal thoughts, especially in children and young adults. Many of these drugs even carry suicide warnings.

However, if you talk to your typical mainstream doctor, you’ll probably hear that actual suicides linked to the use of antidepressant drugs are “very rare”.

But that’s not really the case. And you can’t blame your doctor for not knowing this either. According to a recent study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers have been lying to doctors (and patients!) about the real number of children and teenagers attempting or committing suicide.

The Danish research team investigated the raw data for nearly 70 antidepressant studies involving more than 18,500 young children and teenagers, and found that when a child either killed himself or attempted suicide, in many of cases the researchers either “mislaid” the information or intentionally called it something else.

In one study, for example, more than 90 per cent of suicide attempts were missing from the data and not recorded in the final, published study – that’s a study that will end up in medical journals and on doctors’ desks.

In another study, the drug manufacturer categorised suicide attempts under “worsening of depression” when it reported side effects.

It’s rather obvious that these researchers were intentionally hiding dreadful side effects so that patients will never learn just how dangerous these antidepressants can be.

As the Danish researchers put it, this “raises concerns why this information is allowed to be withheld.”

Well, if I’m allowed to be blunt: We’ve known about these concerns for years… Big Pharma will bend over backwards to make sure we don’t know just how risky these drugs really are. That’s why, if there’s a child in your life suffering from depression, it’s important that antidepressant drugs are a last resort and that other options like cognitive therapy and counselling are explored first.

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Disclaimer: Bear in mind the material contained in this article is provided for information purposes only. We are not addressing anyone’s personal situation. Please consult with your own physician before acting on any recommendations contained herein.

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Sources:

“Antidepressants double suicide risk: study” Nick Tate, January 28, 2016, Newsmax, newsmax.com