Fwd: THE ASSASSINATION OF OUR YOUTH, psychiatric drugs

[Guest guest]

Frank <califpacific wrote:

alternative_medicine_forum From: Frank Mon, 5 Jul 2004 23:26:02 -0700 (PDT) THE ASSASSINATION OF OUR YOUTHhttp://www.steelhorsemag.com/SSRI.htmTHE ASSASSINATION OF OUR YOUTHSSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, arethe pharmaceutical companies latest cash cows. Theiruse has skyrocketed in the last ten years. Nicknamed"Chemical Babysitters" and designated antidepressants, they are causing dozens of murders,thousands of psychoses and are altering the minds ofmillions of users. All but a very few of the latest"Mass Murderers" have been on these drugs. Schoolsencourage parents to put their children on these drugsfor the smallest signs of "non conformity". Schoolsreceive more money for "disabled" students.Here

is one of the most informative articles on SSRIsI've found by Dr. Julian Whitaker MD:The Scourge of ProzacWhen I first heard about the Columbine High Schoolmassacre, my initial thought was, "Lord help us, werethey taking Prozac?" Nine days later, it was reportedthat Eric Harris, one of the shooters, was takingLuvox, which, like Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil, belongsto the class of drugs known as selective serotoninreuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). In one out of every 25children taking it, Luvox causes mania, "a psychosischaracterized by exalted feelings, delusions ofgrandeur…and overproduction of ideas."Guns Are Blamed, but What About Prescription Drugs?Likely due to pressure from the pharmaceuticalindustry-heavy advertisers in all media-the nationaldebate on the epidemic of teen violence has ignoredthe widespread use of prescription drugs in teens andparticularly those who have committed monstrous

acts.However, the drug-violence link is frighteninglycommon. Fifteen-year-old Shawn Cooper of Notus, Idaho,fired a shotgun at students and school staff.According to his stepfather, he had been taking anSSRI. Thirteen-year-old Chris Fetters of Iowa killedher favorite aunt. She was taking Prozac. Kip Kinkel,a 15-year-old youth, went on a rampage in Oregon. Hefirst shot and killed his parents, spent the nightwith the bodies (characteristic of the dissociativereaction these drugs often cause), then killed two andwounded 22 of his fellow students at Thurston HighSchool. He was taking Prozac.SSRI Drugs Can Turn People Into MonstersLook, folks, these are the acts of monsters. Theaccessibility of guns and violent movies alone doesnot create monsters out of children. But prescriptiondrugs that markedly alter brain chemistry can-and do!Particularly drugs like Prozac, which are, in myopinion, the chemical

equivalent of a ghoulish StephenKing monster hiding in the closet. A few people havetried to warn the neighborhood, but no one islistening. And SSRIs don't backfire in children only.In November 1991, 66-year-old Barbara Mortensonattacked her 81-year-old mother, biting her more than20 times and leaving chunks of flesh strewn on thefloor. Barbara had been taking Prozac for the previoustwo weeks. Kristine Marie Cushing, age 39, had beenseparated from her husband for several months. InOctober 1991, she took a .38-caliber pistol and shotand killed both of her children, Elizabeth age 8, andStephanie Marie, age 4, while they lay sleeping intheir beds, then shot herself, inflicting a non-fatalwound. Prosecutors stated that they "couldn't find oneiota of information to show that she was anything buta very giving, caring and sweet human being." After aplea of insanity, she was committed to a mentalinstitution. What made

her snap? She had been takingProzac. Ann Blake Tracy, Ph.D., author of Prozac:Panacea or Pandora?, has been studying the violent,dark side of SSRI drugs for ten years. She hasresearched 32 murder/suicides that involved women andtheir children. By interviewing their families andstudying autopsy reports, news accounts and medicalhistories, she has determined that in 24 of these 32cases, the women were taking Prozac or another SSRI.These Drugs Alter Normal Brain FunctionThe explosive nature of these drugs is predictable.Studies show that they can cause a condition known asakathisia. Akathisia comes from the Greek word meaning"can't sit still," and refers to significant physicaland mental agitation. Akathisia is to violence what amatch is to gasoline. This condition has been reportedin one out of 16 Prozac users, but its incidence islikely under-reported because Prozac also producesmania, hypomania, anxiety and

restlessness, which arefirst cousins of akathisia. The defenders of Prozacsay that millions are being helped by it, but thisclaim is spurious. In the clinical trials submitted tothe FDA for registration, Eli Lilly studied the drugin less than 300 people and for only four or sixweeks. However, one out of every seven participantsdropped out of the study because of side effects ofthe drug. In fact, in a recent evaluation of the usageof Prozac and other SSRIs, it was found that nearly70% of those who are prescribed the drug do not takeit as prescribed, probably due to its undesirable sideeffects. Imagine that, for a drug touted to makepeople feel better! Furthermore, there are no studiesdemonstrating that taking any antidepressant preventssuicide or violent behavior. In fact, according toPeter Breggin, M.D., author of Your Drug May Be YourProblem, "there is substantial evidence that manyclasses of psychiatric

drugs-includingantidepressants, such as SSRIs-can cause or exacerbatedepression, suicide, paranoia and violence." Did youknow that one out of every 12 patients (and thisfigure, too, is likely under-reported) admitted tomental hospitals for psychosis is taking SSRIs?Even the Bright Side of SSRIs Is DarkAs Dr. Breggin points out in his earlier book, TalkingBack to Prozac, these drugs rob people of theirhumanity-they lose their capacity for empathy. "A lotof what we are seeing is individuals losing theirfeeling for the people in their lives. They stopcaring about their husbands or wives or children. Theystop caring about God." Though zombie-like numbnessmay initially be felt to be an improvement by someonewith depression, it can hardly be considered healthy,or even desirable. It is this loss of empathy in myopinion, that allowed Kip Kinkel to kill both of hisparents, then spend the night in the same room

beforeheading out to shoot his classmates in Oregon. It isprecisely why Eric Harris could wander around shootinghis classmates in Columbine High School, even kids heliked, and laugh about it. It's beyond mycomprehension how any doctor could knowingly prescribea drug that may generate violence and numb theindividual to its consequences!We Are the Drug Companies' Guinea PigsThis is not the first time Eli Lilly and other largedrug companies have polluted our culture withmind-altering, hallucinogenic drugs. Did you know thatEli Lilly first produced and marketed LSD as a legaldrug in the 1950s, promoting it as an aid topsychoanalysis, a cure for alcoholism and a way toclear up mental illness? Did you know that PCP, oftenreferred to as angel dust-one of the most dangerousstreet drugs because it produces irrational, violentbehavior-was once legally marketed as an analgesic andpainkiller by Parke-Davis? Did you

know that both LSDand angel dust act by increasing serotonin levels inthe brain, precisely the same mechanism of SSRIs? Dr.Tracy reports that people who have taken LSD in thepast sometimes have LSD flashbacks when given Prozacor a similar drug. These drugs are not helping people.At best, they blunt your experience of both the joysand the sorrows of the human experience. At worst,they are our most frightening nightmare.More SSRI-induced TragediesTwo years ago, Matthew Miller had achieved every13-year-old boy's dream-he had reached 100 pounds. Hehad also changed schools and was a little melancholy.He saw a psychiatrist, who gave him some samples ofZoloft, an SSRI, with the instructions to "give it atry for a week." His parents were happy and trusting,though a little perplexed that it all seemed so easyand that no other form of therapy was even mentionedto help Matthew with what they felt was a

commonadjustment reaction for a child his age. The drugproduced akathisia in Matthew. His sister complainedthat he was being loud and bothering her more thannormal. His grandmother noted that Matthew "couldhardly sit still through our Sunday brunch." In theearly morning hours of his seventh day on Zoloft,Matthew committed suicide. He hanged himself in hiscloset. His father, now painfully aware of what thesedrugs can do, wrote: "There was no cry for help. Noscream. Nothing…but that single, fateful, horrifyingand irreversible act. For a bright, healthy and lovedyoung man, Matt had every reason to live. Yet underthe power of this debilitating drug, he found a way todie. We know it was not our Matt who took his ownlife. This was a Matt 'high' on a legalized pill.Reality and nightmares became indistinguishable forhim. The universe that was his chemically stimulated,serotonin-enriched, emotionally tortured brain

camecrashing down around him with such ferocity, he had noway out."We Must Get the Word OutDrug companies are pushing to sell more and moreSSRIs, thereby drugging larger segments of ourpopulation. Believe it or not, it's reported that manychildren under the age of three have already beengiven Prozac, and it will soon be made in flavoredform for children! Folks, you must educate yourselfand others on this issue. There are at least twocurrent lawsuits against Pfizer, the manufacturer ofZoloft. The family of the late television actor PhilHartman claims that Brynn Hartman, Phil's wife and themother of their two children, aged 9 and 7, was underthe influence of Zoloft when she shot and killed herhusband while he was sleeping, then killed herself.Another SSRI murder-suicide. The family of MatthewMiller is also suing the company over the fatalconsequences of this drug in their son. As evidencelike this

mounts, the tide is bound to turn againstthese dangerous drugs and, just like LSD and PCP, Ibelieve they will ultimately be taken off the market.It's just a question of how much human suffering mustbe endured before that occurs.Let's Get Rid of These DrugsI urge you to state your views on this importantmatter in a letter to Jane Henney, M.D., Commissioner,Food and Drug Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Room1471, Rockville, MD 20857. Send copies of your letterto your Senators and Congressman, and theInternational Coalition for Drug Awareness at P.O. Box1044, West Jordan, UT 84-84 (www.drugawareness.org).Want to Know More?Three books I strongly recommend are Ann Blake Tracy'sProzac: Panacea or Pandora? (which may be ordered bycalling 800/280-0730) and Peter R. Breggin's Your DrugMay Be Your Problem and Talking Back to Prozac (bothavailable in bookstores). Jon Rappoport's in-depthanalysis of teen

violence, Why Did They Do It? AnInquiry into the School Shootings in America may bedownloaded from his web sitehttp://home.earthlink.net/~alto/.Two other excellent web sites for obtaining detailedinformation on the human tragedies and the dark sideof "happiness in a bottle" are Dr. Tracy'sInternational Coalition for Drug Awareness atdrugawareness.org and the Prozac Survivor's SupportGroup at pssg.org.This is the warning given when SSRIs are prescribed:Dropping "cold turkey" off any medication, mostespecially mind altering medications, can often bemore dangerous than staying on the drugs. Tapering offvery, very, very slowly--over months, not justweeks!-- has proven the safest and most effectivemethod of withdrawal from this type of medication,thereby giving the body time to readjust its ownchemical levels.Here are the psychosis warnings for the followingdrugs from the warning labels of each:

Prozac, Mania/Hypomania:During premarketing clinical trials in a patientpopulation comprised primarily of unipolardepressives, hypomania or mania occurred inapproximately 1% of fluoxetine treated patients. Theincidence in a general patient population which mightalso include bipolar depressives is unknown. Thelikelihood of hypomanic or manic episodes may beincreased at the higher dosage levels. Such reactionsrequire a reduction in dosage or discontinuation ofthe drug.Zoloft, Activation of Mania/Hypomania:During clinical testing in depressed patients,hypomania or mania occurred in approximately 0.6% ofsertraline-treated patients. Activation ofmania/hypomania has also been reported in a smallproportion of patients with Major Affective Disordertreated with other marketed antidepressants.Effexor, Activation of Mania/Hypomania:During Phase II and III trials, mania or hypomaniaoccurred in 0.5%

of venlafaxine-treated patients.Activation of mania/hypomania has also been reportedin a small proportion of patients with major affectivedisorder who were treated with other marketedantidepressants. As with all antidepressants,venlafaxine should be used cautiously in patients witha history of mania.Paxil, Activation of Mania/Hypomania:During clinical testing in depressed patients,approximately 1% of paroxetine treated patientsexperienced manic reactions. When bipolar patientswere considered as a sub-group the incidence of maniawas 2%. As with other Selective Serotonin ReuptakeInhibitors (SSRIs), paroxetine should be used withcaution in patients with a history of mania.Serzone, Activation of Mania/Hypomania:As with most antidepressant agents, activation ofmania/hypomania has been reported rarely in patientswith Major Affective Disorder treated Brim nefazodone.In unipolar depressed patients in

clinical trials,hypomania or mania occurred in 0.4%, 0.3%, and 0.5% ofpatients treated with nefazodone, tricyclicantidepressants and placebo, respectively. In bipolarpatients included In these studies, the correspondingrates of occurrence were 3.1%, 10%, and 0% fornefazodone, tricyclic antidepressants and placebo.Anafranil Psychosis, Mania-Hypomania, and otherNeuropsychiatric Phenomena:In patients treated with tricyclic antidepressants,activation of latent schizophrenia or aggravation ofexisting psychotic manifestations in schizophrenicpatients may occur; patients with manic-depressivetendencies may experience hypomanic or manic shifts;and hyperactive or agitated patients may becomeover-stimulated. A reduction in dose ordiscontinuation of clomipramine should be consideredunder these circumstances.All of the above drugs contain the followingdisclosure results in testing:Suicide:The

possibility of a suicide attempt is inherent indepression with or without obsessive-compulsivedisorder. These patients should be carefullysupervised during treatment with clomipramine, andhospitalization or concomitant electroconvulsivetherapy may be required. To minimize the risk of anintentional overdose by a depressed patient,prescriptions should be written for the smallestpossible quantity of the drug consistent with goodpatient management.During testing an average of 11.5% of patientsshowed some adverse reactions to the drugs. Peter Jennings ABC News: September 15, 1999Peter Jennings: "Just when is the drug actually makinga difference?Antidepressants are very popular these days: sales areup 17% from just last year. Millions and millions ofprescriptions now are being written to battledepression and mood swings. Tonight, are these drugsreally doing everything that people think they

are?Here's ABC's Deborah Amos "Deborah Amos: "These depression fighting pills are 60- 70% effective in bringing relief according to themedical literature. But Thomas Moore, who studiesdrugs at George Washington University, says thenumbers are misleading"Thomas Moore: "Millions of Americans believe that thebenefits of these drugs are much greater than theyare"Deborah Amos: "To investigate, Moore analyzed all drugcompany tests on five major drugs submitted to the FDAprior to market approval: for Paxil, Zoloft, Effexor,Serzone and Prozac. The effectiveness of the drug wasmeasured against a placebo or sugar pill."Thomas Moore: "The effect of antidepressants drugs ondepression is only very little different than theeffect of a completely inactive placebo."Deborah Amos: "The highlight of Moore's finding is thecase of Prozac with more than $2 billion dollars inU.S. Sales. About 90% of

Prozac's overalleffectiveness is about the same as patients takingnothing stronger than a sugar pill. But the label forantidepressant drugs, the prescribing detail fordoctors, usually do not spell out the small overalldifferences between the drug and the placebos."Thomas Moore: "At the very least the FDA productlabeling should include a more balanced picture of allthe information they have received about the drug, -about all the clinical trials."Deborah Amos: ""The FDA says it does not put that kindof detail on the label because it is not helpful inpredicting individual outcomes. So what does it allmean for patients, when a placebo can have almost thesame benefits as a dug, and particularly, when a drugcan have unpleasant side-effects.(a psychologist from the University of Conn., who hasteamed up with Thomas Moore.)"It suggests that the frontline of treatment fordepression should be

psychological rather thanchemical."Deborah Ames: "The problem is that good therapy isexpensive and not always available. Pills are cheaperand more easily available. Deborah Ames, ABC News, NewYork."Grieving father warns of drug dangers:Wife, mother who took lives of theirtwo young children was under treatmentBy DENNIS STANLEYNearly six weeks after his wife took the life of theirtwo children and then her own at a scenic overlook toCenter Hill Lake, Robert Kirkwood of Lebanon wants thepublic to be made aware of the dangerous side effectsof anti-depressant medications such as Prozac, Effexorand Zoloft.Kirkwood believes his wife’s medication played a rolein her decision to shoot their two young children andthen turn the gun on herself."That’s the only reason I’m calling, so this will nothappen to someone else," he said in a telephoneinterview Monday. "This is such a deep, dark

hole,such a pain in a person’s heart. Nobody should have togo through this."It was early the morning of July 16 when State TrooperSherry Beaty was called to investigate a parkedvehicle at the scenic overlook to Center Hill Lake onHighway 56 near the DeKalb-Putnam County line.When she arrived, Beaty found four-year-old KellyDiane Kirkwood and her brother, three-year-old Kyle,shot to death in the back seat of a Jeep Cherokee.Dead in the driver’s seat was the mother, RosemarieKirkwood.Following an investigation, authorities revealed Mrs.Kirkwood was taking anti-depressant medicine and beerwas also found in the vehicle.Robert Kirkwood said he "was given no advance warning,no instructions from anybody on what to look for or toknow about what might or could happen" to his wife,who at one time was taking 15 different medicationsbetween those prescribed by her primary care physicianand her

psychologist.He said Monday his wife started taking Zoloft about ayear ago and then some six months later was prescribedEffexor, a medication he said is often described as"Prozac with a kick."Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, Director of the InternationalCoalition For Drug Awareness and a Doctor ofPsychology and Medical Sciences, said Prozac, Zoloft,Paxil, Luvox, Serzone, Effexor, and Anafranil increaseserotonin, the same brain chemical that LSD, PCP andother psychedelic drugs mimic in order to producehallucinogenic effects.According to the coalition’s website, side effects toincreased serotonin include: vivid and violent dreams,inability to feel guilt or cry, breathing or lungproblems, cravings for alcohol, confusion, moodswings, altered personality, symptoms of mania,inability to see any alternatives in situations;aggressive or violent behavior, impulsive behaviorwith no concern about consequences,

paranoia, feeling"possessed" or that something evil is inside; selfdestructive behavior and suicidal ideation; andsuicide attempts.Kirkwood said he talked to his wife’s psychologistafter she had 15 pills of medication but was givenlittle relief and was told "it would take about a yearto help her out."He said he has obtained a pharmacy prescription list"that is six feet long.""I’d say one-third of it is 1998-99 (prescriptions),"Kirkwood said, adding that the psychologist’s nameappears "34 times straight times for medication in an8 to 10 week period.""In no way in God’s name should that be going on," hesaid Monday. "There’s no way to chemically alter aperson’s make-up."Now, Kirkwood said his efforts to educate the publicon the side effects of prescribed medication is "whatkeeps me going.""I spend 70 percent of my time in front of thecomputer trying to educate myself and other

people tobecome aware of alternative herbal and natural ways toprevent depression before that happens, prevent maniaepisodes from these type of medications," he said."That’s all I got left right now. That’s what keeps megoing. I’ve been passing out information to thesheriff’s departments in Gallatin and Lebanon. They rethe ones who have to see all of this happening."He said he also attends Titans football games becausehis wife had talked him into buying private seatlicenses."I know she would have really enjoyed them (games),"said Kirkwood, an industrial sheet metal worker whooften worked out of town. "I go and take a couple offriends every now and then. they had some greatfirework shows and I know my little girl would haveloved that because every time I’d come in from out oftown I’d buy fireworks and make like a celebrationwhen dad came home from working. She’d always call meup and say ‘daddy, you

got enough money for fireworksyet.’"Kirkwood said he forgives his wife, "even in my angerfor what has happened."In an e-mail to the Smithville Review, he said it hastaken five to six weeks "nearly 8-12 hours a day tofind all that I have learned about just onemedication" adding, "I must be under the grace of Godfor I could have been buried with them. This must bewhy I am still here, to tell others that you can bedeceived by what you think is supposed to help you. IfI knew a few months ago what I know today, I would notbe telling you this now. Please be educated and notjust by or on a doctor’s advice. They are very busyand they may not even be told the whole truth."Kirkwood also said he appreciated Trooper Beaty’s"prayers for my children and for the mercy upon mywife’s soul. I often say the same thing. I still lovemy wife and kids very much."For more information about anti-depressants and

othermedications, Kirkwood recommends the followingInternet sites: www.drugawareness.org; www.pssg.org;and www.breggin.org.(Next week: Comments from Dr. Tracy on the dangers ofanti-depressant medications.)Reader Submitted Opinions:By: Diane on 1999-09-19The loss Mr. Kirkwood has experienced is devastating,and unfortunately is quickly becoming common. I havebeen researching these drugs myself and am painfullyaware of the adverse affects. My sister has beentaking Paxil for about a year. At first she did realwell on them. Now she is little more than a zombie.Doesn't care about her responsibilities, family orfriends. She has been drinking a lot and is rapidlygoing down hill. Her children are neglected and are indire need of a mother. Unfortunately their father hashis own vice of alcohol and also neglects. I trust my14yr old niece to watch my 7yr old daughter before hermother. I am scared for our

whole family because ofthese drugs. We have just recently approached herabout taking these things and seems to be payingattention, however I have little faith in her abilityto think clearly. She is seeing the Dr. on Thurs andmy fingers are crossed. I have little faith in apositive outcome as doctors rarely see beyond thefinancial rewards from the pharmaceutical companies.Please seek alternatives to these SSRI drugs, they arevery dangerous! During my research I have found whatseems a good alternative (natural) called SAMe(pronounced Sammy)It can be found in health foodstores and many web sights. I can only suggest you doresearch and learn from Mr. Kirkwood' unfortunateexperience.By: Curlysing on 1999-09-20Please do not be fooled by anyone who says thatpsychiatric drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft, Luvox, andother similar drugs are safe. They are not!! Due to afamily tragedy of my own, I have done a huge

amount ofresearch on these drugs. Prozac had over 28,000 severeadverse reactions reported to the FDA several yearsago, yet no action was taken. There are doctors who"vote" at the FDA who are on the payroll of the largepharmaceutical companies. Apparently, all they'reinterested in is lining their pocket-books. I alsodiscovered that 94% of all "mental illness" is alwayscaused by an actual physical problem which has beenoverlooked by doctors. Most psychologists andpsychiatrists don't even bother to do physicalexaminations of their patients.You should also know that EVERY one of the recentshootings in schools was done by a child who was onone or more psychiatric drugs. This is documentedtruth. Please take heed. Don't let your life bedestroyed! Refuse to allow yourself or any member ofyour family to take ANY type of psychiatric drug. TheyALL have documented horrible side effects! There arenatural remedies

which can handle any emotionalproblem without resorting to drugs that kill.By: eponio on 1999-09-21Most of tragedies today are because of thisdrugs,-Criminal children in Colorado School was undera psyche drug.-Few days after that event in Atlanta other childcreate a similar scene. This child was also underpsyche drug.-Princess Diana's driver was under Prozac based drug.I have no doubt that psyche drugs and psychiatrist (orsociologist) are the hidden responsible behind crime,social decadency and materialism.From Clinical Psychiatry NewsSSRI Prescribing in Primary Care Draws Fire ToddZwillich, Senior Writer[Clinical Psychiatry News 27(6):34, 1999. © 1999International Medical News Group.]------More primary care physicians are prescribingantidepressants, but some observers worry thatpatients aren't being evaluated closely

enough forpotential adverse reactions or monitored appropriatelywhile taking the drugs.Research is beginning to show that "large numbers" ofprescriptions for selective serotonin reuptakeinhibitors (SSRIs) aren't accompanied by a diagnosisof depression or any other mental condition, saidStephen Crystal, Ph.D., a researcher who studiesprescribing trends at Rutgers University in NewBrunswick, N.J."We have a massive uncontrolled experiment going onout there," he said.The number of doctor office visits including anantidepressant prescription more than doubled between1985 and 1994 to more than 24 million, according todata from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey(NAMCS). Researchers attribute the rise to thepopularity of SSRIs.While an estimated 11 million psychiatristappointments included an antidepressant prescriptionin 1994, more than 10 million other antidepressantprescriptions

were written by primary care doctors.Preliminary analysis of survey data extending through1996 shows that antidepressant prescriptions are nowmore common in primary care offices than inpsychiatrists' practices, according to Dr. Crystal.Managed care is at least partly responsible for thetrend. Primary care physicians acting as gatekeepersin HMOs have been encouraged to treat potentiallydepressed patients rather than refer them tospecialists. At the same time, primary care doctorsare becoming more comfortable with the newer SSRIsbecause they are relatively easy to use.Toxicity and overdoses are rare, and potential druginteractions are far less common than with other drugclasses. The drugs may also provide a convenient wayto treat somatizing patients who have a few depressivesymptoms without a full-blown depressive episode.But relatively few data exist to support SSRIs'efficacy in treating the "sub

threshold" patientsoften seen in primary care. Many of those patients mayget SSRIs without any official diagnosis, according toDr. Harold Pincus, who last year published a study onpsychotropic prescribing using NAMCS data.Office-based psychiatry practices tend to aggregatearound more affluent and better-educated patients inmedium and large cities. Most observers agree thatprimary care's new dominance in antidepressantprescribing makes the drugs available to a wider rangeof patients."Those who are under served by specialists arenonwhite and not wealthy. They are the ones whobenefit most from primary care physician prescribing,"said Dr. Gregory Simon, a psychiatrist who studiesprescribing patterns at Group Health Cooperative ofPuget Sound in Seattle.The American Psychiatric Association recommends in itsdepression treatment guidelines that patients continuetheir SSRI prescription for 4-5 months

after completeremission of their symptoms. But data from GroupHealth Cooperative--an HMO that emphasizes primarycare treatment of mental conditions--show that only34% of patients on SSRIs refill their prescriptionsoften enough to suggest continuous use.At the same time, new data from the Rutgers group showthat Medicare patients treated in primary care aremore than twice as likely as similar patients treatedin psychiatric settings to fill their SSRIprescriptions only once, Dr. Crystal commented.Others worry that physicians are not paying enoughattention to patient factors that could makeinitiation of SSRIs dangerous. Dr. Malcolm B. BowersJr., a psychiatrist at Yale University in New Haven,told CLINICAL PSYCHIATRY NEWS that SSRI-inducedpsychosis has accounted for 8% of all general hospitalpsychiatric admissions over a recent 14-month period.[emphasis added]The pattern suggests that while SSRIs are

a help tothe majority of patients who take them, more needs tobe done to make sure that doctors prescribing thedrugs evaluate patients for psychotic predispositionvulnerable to SSRIs. Such patients may include thosewith a history of psychotic illness or early signs ofmania."What is surprising is that this particular group ofside effects is really underplayed," Dr. Bowers said.