Antidepressant expose'

[Guest guest]

Harsha writes:

>I am resending this post due to previous formatting problems. This

>information is important and might be very useful for some people. Please

>share. El has done some very fine work in exploring the area of mental

>and physical health and the Kundalini phenomena. She can be contacted at the

>address given below.

 

I thank you for sending this, Harsha. The first time you sent it I decided

to

just let it go, but since you sent it again, I think I will briefly comment.

 

I have not yet read the book mentioned ("Prozac Backlash" by Joseph

Glenmullen, M.D.) Not suprisingly, many of the concepts mentioned in El's

post go against standard academic teachings. Additionally, much of what

was written goes against my clinical experience in prescribing these

medications (e.g., the addictiveness of antidepressants and the difficulty

of getting off of Wellbutrin).

 

However, although I have not seen these phenomena clinically, if there

are valid scientific data supporting these claims then they do certainly

have importance. My interest piqued (and feeling not a little bit defensive

about my field), I will try to find the book. In the meantime, I really

don't

have the time nor the inclination at this time to debate the relative merits

of psychiatric medications (sick children, wife had surgery, and I'm on call

this weekend). Not that anyone has asked to debate, but I've been around

cyberspace long enough to realize that this is an issue about which many

people feel strongly. :--)

 

Be peaceful-

 

Mike

[Guest guest]

I am resending this post due to previous formatting problems. This

information is important and might be very useful for some people. Please

share. El has done some very fine work in exploring the area of mental and

physical health and the Kundalini phenomena. She can be contacted at the

address given below.

 

Harsha

 

Fri, 7 Apr 2000 21:26:16 EDT

ckress

Antidepressant expose'

 

I've just finished reading "Prozac Backlash" by Joseph Glenmullen, M.D. --

an

expose' of the booming antidepressant industry which currently is raking in

more than $4 billion a year from the American sales of Prozac, Zoloft and

Paxil alone. The book focuses on these and other SSRI drugs (Luvox, Celexa)

as well as Wellbutrin, Effexor, Serzone and Remeron.

 

There is no current way of measuring serotonin levels in the brain, and even

if there were, the prevailing concept of a brain "chemical imbalance" which

is supposed to be corrected by SSRI or other drugs is pure speculation which

has never been scientifically proven. The author compares it to saying that

someone whose headache has been relieved by aspirin has an aspirin

deficiency. He says, "The truth of the matter is: No one has anything but

the vaguest idea of the chemical effects of these drugs on the living human

brain."

 

The pharmaceutical industry is engaging in every bit as much a

profit-driven,

damn-the-health-consequences cover-up as the tobacco companies. They use

their political clout and $$$ to suppress research results and censor

mainstream media coverage of the facts so even most doctors are in the dark

about the real nature of the drugs they are prescribing by the ton.

 

At the turn of century, Glenmullen says that medicine promoted then-legal

cocaine elixirs for everything from depression to shyness. These were

followed by prescription amphetamines, barbiturates, narcotics and

tranquilizers, "all hailed as miracle cures" in their day until their

dangerous side effects became widely evident. Each of these drugs was

initially "aggressively marketed with claims that they are revolutionary

breakthroughs, remarkable scientific advances over their predecessors."

 

Modern drug advocates and pharmaceutical companies insist that SSRIs are

non-addictive -- the same thing which was said about cocaine and

amphetamines

when they were prescription antidepressants. Cocaine resembles the Prozac

group in that it is primarily a reuptake inhibitor. According to the

author,

cocaine, amphetamines, diet pills (like Redux), the illegal drug Ecstasy,

and

the SSRI's and other antidepressant group are all related because they

target

brain cells and boost the levels of neurotransmitters. Redux, which was

taken off the market after numerous deaths, is closely related to Prozac and

the other SSRI's: they all elevate serotonin. Redux was promoted as a

weight

loss drug, since high brain levels of serotonin are known to reduce

appetite.

(This same effect has been found in all the SSRI antidepressants, although

long term use strangely has the opposite effect of causing weight gain!)

 

Glenmullen says "the term 'antidepressant' is virtually meaningless and

seriously misleading." These drugs are nothing more than prescription

stimulants. By current protocols used by drug manufacturers, the author

says

that almost any stimulating drug would pass as an antidepressant, including

caffeine pills and nicotine. Patients who are former amphetamine or cocaine

addicts have reported that the effects of their SSRI antidepressant

medication feels like "mild versions" of street drugs. (In fact, the most

popular illegal use of these prescription drugs is snorting or intravenously

shooting up powdered quantities of Prozac or Wellbutrin.)

 

The author quotes another doctor/author, Lester Grinspoon, whose 1975 book

"The Speed Culture" seems prophetic. Wrote Grinspoon, "Drug companies will

probably continue to produce increasingly sophisticated and disguised

amphetamines, and these 'new' drugs undoubtedly will be greeted with initial

enthusiasm by the medical establishment until it is recognized that any drug

with amphetamine-like central nervous system stimulating properties almost

invariably is just as toxic, potentially addictive, and therapeutically

limited as Benzedrine or Dexedrine. Only the medical jargon describing the

alleged 'diseases' has become more sophisticated."

 

The required FDA clinical tests for antidepressants can be as short as 4

weeks, although typically the studies last 6-8 weeks... yet many drug side

effects do not show up until much longer, especially for drugs used

continuously for months or years! Once a drug has been FDA approved, only

about 1% of serious side effects are ever reported and even then, the FDA

only has a staff of 5 doctors and 1 epidemiologist to review the more than

3,000 drugs already on the market.

 

The author says that in addition to common SSRI side effects such as feeling

nervous, jittery, having trouble sleeping, mental fuzziness, memory loss,

etc., there are potentially serious long term effects. These include

extreme

withdrawal syndromes (which effect up to 50% of patients); sexual

dysfunction

(effecting 60% of patients); neurological disorders and brain damage; and

suicidal and violent behavior reactions.

 

There has been concern that the emotional blunting and apathy reported by

some patients on SSRIs may be the result of damage to their frontal lobes -

a

chemical lobotomy. Neuroleptic drugs which have a similar effect on brain

chemistry have long been suspected of causing cognitive deficits and

impairment of intellectual functioning. Studies of monkey brains after 4

days of exposure to Redux showed widespread destruction of the branches of

serotonin cells. There is a concern that SSRI type drugs may increase the

incidence of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

 

Cocaine and amphetamines boost all three of the brain's "feel good"

neurotransmitters: serotonin, adrenaline and dopamine. (Nicotine also

increases dopamine brain levels.) SSRI's only increase the serotonin. But

raising brain levels of serotonin DECREASES dopamine levels. Many of the

adverse effects of the SSRIs are direct results of the drop in dopamine.

The

most serious of these are similar to Parkinson's disease, which is also a

result of brain dopamine deficiencies. The same kind of drug induced

neurotoxic effects has been long known with the major antipsychotic drugs as

"tardive dyskinesia." The patient develops tics, muscle spasms, and

abnormal, repetitive movements of the mouth, tongue, jaw and sometimes

jerking movements of the limbs. These "tics" can lead to swinging or

flailing of the arms, twisting or writhing of the hands, and other

uncontrollable bodily movements. This can be a seriously disabling

condition

and may become worse after medication is discontinued. In about half the

cases, the tics and strange movements slowly disappear after stopping the

drugs; in the rest, the damage is permanent. In severe cases, there is loss

of motor control as well as agitation and muscle spasms.

 

(For those with active Kundalini, the tardive dsykinesia symptoms of brain

damage can resemble kriyas which occur during meditation or during sleep.

According to Glenmullen, td symptoms usually disappear during sleep -- the

opposite of kriyas. And Peter Breggin says that td is worse when the

patient

tries to perform physical tasks, while kriyas usually do not cause

interference with normal activities, like trying to walk or pick up

objects.)

 

Some of the well known withdrawal symptoms from nicotine are the result of

a

sudden plummet in dopamine: extreme irritation, rage attacks, anxiety,

feeling generally spastic, memory lapses and mental fuzziness, etc. These

are also known side effects of SSRIs. Wellbutrin (also known as Zyban) is

one of the few antidepressants which help smokers quit because it isn't a

SSRI; instead, it raises brain levels of dopamine. Dopamine is a mental and

sexual stimulant. Historically, drugs that raise dopamine tend to be more

stimulating and more addicting than drugs than only raise adrenaline or

serotonin. Ritalin falls into this category (given to children!). While

all

the antidepressants are known to have withdrawal effects, Wellbutrin has

proven to be one of the most difficult from which to wean patients!

 

Glenmullen backs up his information in the "Notes" section at the end of his

book: 35 pages of references to research published in scientific and medical

journals. If anyone is interested in more info on this subject, I recommend

Peter Breggin's book, "Toxic Psychiatry." There is additional info in an

article about the dangers of these kinds of medications in Shared

Transformation (back issue #9) which is still available on our site at

http://members.aol.com/ckress/newslet.html

 

El

 

 

//

[Guest guest]

Hi Mike:

 

I would like to add my '2 cents' worth to this. In a perfect world all would

take herbs, eat properly, do lots of yoga and balance out what needs to be

balanced in a natural manner. However, this is not the case and as with many

things one needs to look at many factors before coming to a conclusion that

antidepressants are inherently wrong. I tried for years to get my daughter to

take herbs (she would have had to take approximately 20 pills a day), do some

yoga, get some therapy and eat properly. She had neither the commitment or

patience to take that route. As a result her life was going from bad to worse

until she at last would go for medical help. She is on serazon now and has

stablized quite a bit. Her blood levels are watched carefully and she does

'talk' therapy along with the meds. I have wondered if she will be on this

medication for life just as I wonder if she is abdicating all responsibility for

health to a pill....a possible negative side. On the positive side she

functions now...is taking responsibility for being a mother and much more

rationale that she has ever been before. She has a future which she most likely

did not have before taking the 'meds'. Up until she went on the medication she

had totalled two cars, been raped, was involved with drugs and left her child to

be taken care of by others, she was always angry and wound up homeless for a

while. I have a son who was raised in the same way who has had none of these

problems. My daughter was always different, always had a tendency to simply

lose it. My ex-husband's family has a history of some insanity and I believe

that there is something biological that was passed on to my daughter. With the

whole picture in mind I am glad that these medications were available. At least

she will have the option to gain the maturity to approach another route to the

situation.....a maturity that I am convinced she would not have reached without

the intervention of antidepressants.

 

I have not been to a doctor in years and am generally more suspicious than not

towards the AMA, FDA etc. but also know that if I were to have a heart attack I

would prefer to see the inside of an emergency room to a bottle of herbs. Yes

there will be abuse and mis-use of these drugs but there is abuse and mis-use of

many things. To negate the entire field is as foolish as embracing the medical

profession as perfect. I have seen too much yoga weird people out to the point

where they are as off-balance as someone who considers brandy in coffee as a

healthy breakfast. In the end it comes down to discrimination there are no fast

rules that are right for everyone.

 

Linda

 

Sure there are going to be instances when these medications are over-prescribed

-----

 

 

 

>I thank you for sending this, Harsha. >The first time you sent it I decided

>to

>just let it go, but since you sent it >again, I think I will briefly comment.

>I have not yet read the book mentioned >("Prozac Backlash" by Joseph

>Glenmullen, M.D.) Not suprisingly, many >of the concepts mentioned in El's

>post go against standard academic >teachings. Additionally, much of what

>was written goes against my clinical >experience in prescribing these

.>medications (e.g., the addictiveness of >antidepressants and the difficulty

>of getting off of Wellbutrin).

>However, although I have not seen these >phenomena clinically, if there

>are valid scientific data supporting >these claims then they do certainly

>have importance. My interest piqued (and >feeling not a little bit defensive

>about my field), I will try to find the >book. In the meantime, I really

>don't

>have the time nor the inclination at this >time to debate the relative merits

>of psychiatric medications (sick >children, wife had surgery, and I'm on

>call

>this weekend). Not that anyone has asked >to debate, but I've been around

>cyberspace long enough to realize that >this is an issue about which many

>people feel strongly. :--)

>Be peaceful-

>Mike

 

 

 

 

 

 

//

 

All paths go somewhere. No path goes nowhere. Paths, places, sights,

perceptions, and indeed all experiences arise from and exist in and subside back

into the Space of Awareness. Like waves rising are not different than the ocean,

all things arising from Awareness are of the nature of Awareness. Awareness does

not come and go but is always Present. It is Home. Home is where the Heart Is.

Jnanis know the Heart to be the Finality of Eternal Being. A true devotee

relishes in the Truth of Self-Knowledge, spontaneously arising from within into

It Self. Welcome all to a.

 

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