5 Reasons to Be WARY of Psychiatric Medications and Diagnosis; and Why Antidepressants are NOT Happy Pills
More often than not, Antidepressants are no help or harmful pills. Diagnosis and medications may not be helpful as root cause issues are not always considered. Who HEALS on these?
Reason 1
Psychiatric Drugs: Create Violence and Suicide
Above is a 62 Page Document on Psychiatric meds - Antidepressant, Antipsychotic, ADHD medicine, and sleeping pill dangers. I highly recommend you read this document - it’s full of interesting and needed information for many people.
The Midwestern Doctor, The Forgotten Side of Medicine, has several articles on the dangers of Antidepressants; they cause mass shootings, suicides, homicides, emotional numbing (people stay in unhappy relationships for years or decades), addictive qualities and withdrawals, and many other dangers. Definitely not a “happy pill”. The doctor does point out that there is a small subset of people who seem to be helped by them, citing methylation reasons. His articles are definitely worth the read!
Reason 2
Do people HEAL from the psychiatric meds?
I worked in the mental health field professionally in one capacity or another for 8 years (case manager, site leader for 3-5 year-olds with mental/behavioral health problems, mental health counselor for children and adults, intern counselor in psychiatric inpatient unit).
Many of the clients I worked with were on psychiatric drugs - many on several (5 or more). None of them were healed. None of them were healthy. Most of them had been on psychiatric drugs for at least 1 year, some 15-20 plus years. Some were functional - as in they could hold a job some of the time. Others could not hold a job at all due to their mental health and physical health problems. Most of the physical health problems were chronic fatigue, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, autoimmune, neurologic problems, addictions (not the kids), and extreme emotional distress (PTSD related).
If drugs healed, helped, and gave them their life back - then ok. But, most of the time, they were on multiple drugs for physical and mental health issues; 5-20 different drugs is not an exaggeration. Other people I knew in the field said the same thing about the number of drugs that their clients were taking. I’ve talked with chiropractors who said the same thing about the number of drugs that some of their patients were taking. How is this helpful?
If someone had NO problems and we put them on 5-20 different medications, they would have problems just from the side effects of the drugs alone, wouldn’t they? I’m not a doctor. But I am a person whose life was devastated by just 1 drug - a fluoroquinolone antibiotic. I can’t imagine taking 20 drugs at the same time, continiously. And some of those were known to be very toxic. I have no idea if any of them had ever been on a fluoroquinolone antibiotic…that wouldn’t have been in their chart since it was a fleeting drug, not a staying on kind of drug.
Sigh. I wish there were easy answers to mental health and the answer really was, “take this pill”. If you are reading this and that was the answer for you though- I am so glad. That is not the stories I know. But I am truly glad if it’s your story. You are one of the lucky ones.
Reason 3
ALSO, Did you see the article that just came out?!
55 U.S. Doctors Behind Psychiatric Diagnosis Manual Took $14M From Drug Companies
“A BMJ report revealed that 55 of the doctors on panels deciding diagnoses and treatments for the “bible” of psychiatric disorders had undisclosed industry ties totaling millions. The authors of the report said such conflicts of interest distort care guidelines and erode public trust.” By Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D.
This is not good news. Doctors and mental health professionals rely on this book for diagnosis which determines treatment in many cases. It’s already known that gifts from pharmaceutical representatives can influence decision making in physicians - what about millions of dollars from drug companies?
Physicians and the Pharmaceutical Industry Is a Gift Ever Just a Gift?
Factors Influencing Prescription Behavior of Physicians
Reason 4
Is the medication or diagnosis meaningful?
When I was in graduate school for clinical psychology, our professors told us that the diagnosis of PMDD was put into the DSM AFTER a medication was made that treated PMDD…what? Did you get that? A pill was made first, then a diagnosis for the pill was made.
I discovered that mercury poisoning was causing severe “PMDD” for me. Magnesium, Iodine, C60, Ionbiome, Orange Peel Tea, B-vitamins, and Women’s hormone balance supplement have worked well for me. My article lists the rest of those supplements and where I get them. 11 of the Best and Safest Ways to Detox Heavy Metals, Poisons, Toxins, Medications, Vaccine toxins, Mold/Fungus, and Chemicals Mercury, Lead, Fluoride, Chlorine, Pesticides, and many other toxins can cause significant impairment in daily living, body and brain health (physical and mental health), and chronic fatigue symptoms. Also, my Pinterest under Supplements lists where I get them and the brand I use. Everyone is different so make sure to consult your qualified healthcare practitioner about which, if any of these, might be helpful for you. Supplements, herbals, and essential oils can interfere with medications and be contraindicated for some conditions.
Also, one professor talked about how there is a really inexpensive drug known to be more helpful than any medication marketed for ADHD and with less side effects, but since it’s old and makes no money, no one is ever told. He specialized in ADHD research and was, like some other professors, incredibly sad about how the pharmaceutical field operated. Most mental health professionals want to help their patients and see them get better more than anything. But how do they discover the lies or withheld information or differential diagnosis? How are they to know? How are you to know?
ADHD can be caused by fluoride toxicity, heavy metal toxicity, vaccine injury, allergy to food or environmental toxins, brain trauma, etc.
A diagnosis does not tell us the root cause for a particular set of symptoms.
Reason 5
No Tests for Toxicity and Allergies and Brain Scans are Done on Most People.
Many people are put on medications based on symptoms and not on lab work and brain scans. Even if they did, many tests will not show chemicals, heavy metals, or other toxins that might be hiding in tissues, bone, or organs. As far as I know, the Daniel Amen clinics are the only clinics who do brain scans to see how the brain is functioning - which helps them with diagnosis and treatment planning.
Was a differential diagnosis considered and testing and brain scans done?
In my article, I discuss differential biological, emotional, and spiritual problems to consider when diagnosed with a mental illness; Schizophrenia, Psychosis, Bipolar, Depression, Anxiety, other Mental Disorders: Actually Food or Chemical Allergies? Autoimmune? Mold? Parasites? Heavy Metal Toxicity? Lyme? Drug Side Effects? Mental Health is Brain Health. Odd that we don’t get scans of the brain to see how it’s functioning AND (test for) toxicity, allergies, vaccines, autoimmune, and drugs - even though they are known culprits.
How many people have fluoride toxicity, other chemical, food, or environmental toxicity or allergy, heavy metal toxicity, Lyme disease, autoimmune disorders (can be caused by toxins and then the body develops an autoimmune disorder) or drug side effects (both illegal and legal), parasites, mold toxicity, untreated trauma, or any other disorder or disease - maybe a brain tumor or cyst - are diagnosed with a mental illness but the root cause of the problem is never treated? I recommend reading the article for further information to look at mental illness from a biological, emotional, and spiritual perspective and to learn about root cause problems and where to go to get brain scans.
I feel that the psychiatric field is failing us with psychiatric medication - through no fault of the doctors who were taught that this is how you treat - and the only way you treat - mental illness. Of course there are doctors in the field who do know to look holistically into the problem - maybe to enlist a functional medicine doctor or other helpful doctors for differential and other diagnoses of root cause problems. But I find that the majority of people I talk to, have no idea there is anything wrong with the psychiatric field or drugs they use.
I do know there are those who benefit from the drugs - however, a root cause explanation is not always considered or not considered in the manner of toxicity/allergy/autoimmune/Lyme related. And to me, that is sad. For example, from my article, I discuss that “Autoimmune Psychosis has been found to be the cause of Schizophrenia in certain cases. Here are a couple of heartbreaking stories of people who suffered over 20 years in catatonic states of schizophrenia in residential psychiatric facilities - but because of some doctors interest in their cases, they tested for specific autoimmune antibodies and then were treated the disease and the patients improved quickly and were able to leave the inpatient psychiatric facility and live their lives - after 20 years!”
I worked in a psychiatric inpatient unit for a short time and am aware that that short-term therapies with the drugs were needed for some patients as they were violent, out of control, psychotic, and not able to answer basic questions - tests could not have been run on these patients. I do see the validity in short-term treatment until long term, root cause answers can be found.
However, I also know that to find those root cause answers, it takes money. Maybe lots of money. Many people simply do not have the kind of money or resources needed to access brain scans and allergy and environmental testing and other tests or doctors that are not covered by insurance. For many people, drugs are the most affordable answer to the problem.
We have a health insurance problem. A pharmaceutical industry problem. A problem treating symptoms instead of looking for the root cause. An affordability of treatment problem. A lack of knowledge inside and outside of the field problem. Conflicts of interests problems. Lack of access to knowledgeable physicians and psychiatrists problem. And probably many more problems.
This article is not to shame, condemn, or guilt anyone treating or being treated with psychiatric medication. Most people are doing the best they know how with the knowledge and resources they have. And I personally know many people who would like access to different doctors and clinics to hopefully find the root cause of their mental health problem, but they simply cannot afford those doctors or the treatments they prescribe - as many of those are not covered by insurance either.
The point is this: Be aware. Do the best you can with what you have and keep looking and researching to find answers if what you are doing is not working for you. Some people can afford to seek other options and other opinions, they just do not know there could be other answers.
Some people find relief from depression, anxiety, trauma, and other stresses from these 4 FREE resources:
Prayer is free.
Freedomfighters is free.
A technique called Emotional Freedom Technique Tapping (EFT) can be done at home and accessed on youtube for free. Here is more information on uses for EFT Tapping: The Psychology Behind Tapping.
Exercise is free (walking, jogging, exercise or weight lifting, pilates, dance classes, etc on youtube) and has been shown to be more effective than medication for depression and anxiety and possibly more effective than cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) counseling for mild to moderate depression, stress, and anxiety.
Keep in mind, there are many reasons for depression, anxiety, stress, and other mental health problems and the above 4 free ideas may not be an answer for your particular problem so keep searching for answers. Trauma may need to be addressed by a counselor trained in EMDR or other treatments as well.
Maybe your doctor or psychiatrist will know some detox treatments or other supplements to help your condition, if you ask. Some doctors and psychiatrists give up trying to tell their patients other treatments besides drugs that they could try - because many people want the medications instead, for one reason or another. Never hurts to ask.
For me, detox has been necessary; I found 11 of the Best and Safest Ways to Detox Heavy Metals, Poisons, Toxins, Medications, Vaccine toxins, Mold/Fungus, and Chemicals for me - if you want to, check them out and discuss these with a doctor you trust.
I am NOT a doctor. Always seek advice, recommendations, and suggestions from qualified medical professionals. This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or recommend any course of action or non-action. Do not stop your psychiatric medications without consulting with your doctor as stopping those incorrectly can have detrimental consequences.
A lot of time is put into researching and writing posts, but I want everyone to be able to access the information, whether they can afford to pay or not. Thank you! Coffee is always welcome :)
Another exceptional article, Tara. Thank you very much! I too had my life destroyed by fluoroquinolone antibiotics and have been well aware of how BIG PHARMA harms patients and then profits on the damage they have done, with each drug causing a variety of "symptoms" that will require additional drugs like pain pills, sleeping pills, anti-seizure meds, antacids, blood pressure meds or psych meds for example, each in turn causing more issues. It's a brilliant business model, taking much longer to kill their victims than when they were peddling Zyklon B.