The Increasing Reliance of Mental Health Professionals On Drug Therapy Has Dangerous Consequences for Children

This was α simplier  Time .  Memory of  My Dad , R Nelson

Prescription drug abuse is growing increasingly popular. The growing trend is gradually

getting worse, and can include grave implications, such as coma and death. According to Dr. John Goathe, the director of the Burlingame Center for Psychiatric Research in Connecticut noted that the office visits for children being prescribed anti-psychotic drugs had increased more than 600% in the years of 1993-2002 (Szalavitz, M.,May 2009,Time Magazine). Even preschoolers are being exposed to anti-psychotic drugs. Children from the ages of 2- 4 have experienced a rapid growth rate by three times the amount of time over a 5 year span of time. (Null, G., the Drugging of our Children). The evidence will support the claim from professionals in the field of health. The intention of the argument is to bring awareness of the impending dangers our society is being presented with.

     
     There is a great fear of compromise with the children being medicated, while their brains

have not fully developed. According to (Null) In 1986, researcher found brain shrinkage in 50 percent of adults that had been treated with stimulants for hyperactivity since childhood.
Doctors are aware that high doses of stimulants can cause brain damage, but no one has
Questioned the concern that chronic low doses could also create brain damage in the cases of children that are being treated for ADHD. We are becoming a medicated society, and while I agree the severe cases do have a cause of medication, we are becoming increasingly dependent upon drugs, and we don't know the underlying implications of what will be the outcome of the side effects.

     The television advertisements are growing more in number marketing more new drugs that are relative to depression and emotional disorders. While listening to each commercial at the end you will be given a long list of side effects, and I think we are growing desensitized to the harm of the long term effects. Very often the side effects of the drugs can produce greater harm than good of the medication. The pharmaceutical companies are making an enormous amount of profit for a dangerous price at the expense of quality of life. (Null, Gary, The Drugging of our Children)noted “Ritalin’s side effects has a more potent effect on the brain than cocaine and we are supposed to be a country that eschews the use of mind altering substances, certainly for children”. There have been lawsuits filed against many unsafe medications and the Pharmaceuticals companies settled out of court. It was the highest lawsuit filed in US History. (Szalavitz,M.) Concluded in this case there were also huge criminal fines that were charged to some of the pharmaceutical companies for illegally marketing antipsychotic drugs. There were pay outs that were well over 5 billion dollars. There is a huge mark up on these medications and the production of new disorders continues to rise along with new medications to treat them with.

     
     Through the research that I have compiled it seems relevant that the Big Phara companies may be more concerned for their profits than human life. The doctors are being put in a position of offering drugs over behavioral therapy because the insurance companies will not pay for talk therapy. The drugs that are administered do not prove to be any more effective than talk therapy. It is much quicker and more economical for health professionals to administer these drugs because time is money, and the insurance companies are balking at talk therapy. Fortunately the talk therapy has no harmful side effects, verses psychotic drugs depressants. According to (Gardiner, Harris March, 2011, New York Times), recent research from studies have concluded that talk therapy is as effective, if not noted, for better results treating depression. There is a growing problem because psychiatrist’s can earn more money in three 15 minute appointments at 150.00 compared to 90 dollars for a 45 minute counseling session. Insurance company’s policies discourage talk therapies because of their reimbursement rates. I believe this has to do with profit over quality care of patients. Of course if you are wealthy, this will not affect you because cash is not a problem. One young doctor by the name of Matthew Levin stated that he was concerned of the rising possibilities of putting his earnings against the ethics of his patients care. He is hoping to avoid those issues.

      There are severe cases of mental illness that require drug treatment, and I am not disputing or arguing that fact. The problems are being reported that many, possibly half of the diagnosis’s are made are misdiagnosed. According to (Bruce,Shadrai; July, 2010) “Bi polar is often mistaken for depression, and this error occurs in almost half of those that have problems”. The problem with mis diagnosis is that while anti-depressants seem helpful for treating depression, it is not the proper way to treat those suffering from bi polar disorder. “Anti-depressants can worsen the disorder”. According to (Zimmerman, Mark) that lead the study in misdiagnosis he concluded by saying “Misdiagnosis can be very dangerous and have huge effects on the brain itself”. From the evidence I have researched these severe cases only make up 3 percent of the the population of the mentally ill and there are millions of prescriptions being written without the proper diagnosis. According to (Szalavitz,M.) there are many people that are being treated with Atypical Antipsychotic drugs and these drugs are for the treatment of schizophrenia and bi polar and this would make up about 3 percent. “In 2010 there were 56 million prescriptions filled for atypical antipsychotics”.

     The most dangerous side effect these drugs cause is suicidal thoughts. I have a compiling list of 29 pages full of teens as well as some adults that committed suicide and some committed murder, and these psychotropic drugs were in there systems. They had already been treated by a Psychiatrist. According to (Teen Screen Truth p.1) they raise the question if these drugs actually increase, suicide, violence and murder. They are quoted as saying. “If drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft, Ritalin, Xanax, Paxil, Thorazine and other related“anti-depressants” are actually an effective treatment, one would naturally expect suicides, murders and violent behavior to be decreasing, yet this is apparently the reverse of what is happening”. The statistics are growing higher regarding teen suicide. Some of these drugs in fact cause Akathisia, this is a mental agitation that can spark violent outbursts. It can also cause dissociative reactions, desensitizing the impact of the poor choices of wrong in the patients behavior. (Teen Screen Truth).

      We should be able to feel comfortable knowing that doctors are providing us with healthy
decisions concerning our heath. The problem that is being encountered is the side effects are growing at an accelerated rate and the overload can impair the better judgments of our health care providers. They have to sift through so many side effects and this takes a great deal of time. In an investigation done by (Duke, John Dr.) he stated “the concern of doctors being overloaded with side effects and a possible weakening in judgment to treat their patients safely.”While some of the side effects are listed on medicine bottles and are announced in the media, this is to protect the pharmaceutical companies and also the doctors that write out the prescriptions unfortunately leaving the patients vulnerable. This does not apply to all doctors but is very likely that it does happen with many of them.

    
     The greatest and most alarming conclusions lie within our children. There is a new wave of medications that have been drawn to children. ADHD and ADD. It is becoming common
practice in the public school system to determine whether our children need drugs. According to (Null, G.p.2 paragraph 4)he noted “ In some instances taking medicine is a prerequisite for attending school, with refusal to comply considered grounds for dismissal, or worse, removal of the child from the home by the state”. According to (Baughman, Fred Dr.) a board certified child Neurologist trained at New York University and Mount Sinai, he stated “It’s one thing for a court to intervene and take over as legal guardian in a case where a child’s life is truly at risk, but quite another when psychotropic drugs are forced on children who don’t fit into the mold.”

      
     Teachers are the ones that usually disclose the information to the parents along with the school counselor. This is dangerous because teachers are not doctors. It is not uncommon for 5 year old children to wiggle in their desks. Normal children are full of natural energy. According to (Null,G. p.3 para 2) he stated “What one person views as distractibility, for instance another may view as natural inquisitiveness” Many times these children are placed on medications and it is simply not needed. The psychologists of the school and recommendationsof the teacher’s evaluations of the student pressure the parents to drug their children and the parents comply because they believe they are doing what is in the best interest of their child. According to Psychologist (McGuiness, Diane, 1991) she concluded by saying, “We have invented a disease, given it medical sanction, and now must disown it. The major question is, how do we go about destroying the monster we’ve created?” There are parents that now grief and wish they would have sought after second opinions but they cannot because there children are dead. (Teen Screen Truth).

     
     This information I am about to share in one that is startling and could in fact cause life time implications on this generation of children being medicated with anti-psychotic drugs. When a child reaches the age of puberty there frontal lobe begins to grow and develop at the most growth rate since infancy. It doesn’t fully develop until the age of around 20. These years are very critical for children. The frontal lobe of our brain is where our emotions of judgment, anger and self-control and reasoning lie. (Psychology and Life 18^thedition) We often wonder why teenagers are so hard to deal with at this age and this gives us a general idea of why this can be a critical time for them. It is normal development because there are huge changes in the frontal lobe that can cause emotional upheaval during these years. The drugs can actually slow down the growth of normal development by blocking areas of the brain that have not fully matured. I am afraid we may be selling our children out to these pharmaceutical companies.  Teen suicide is increasing daily and the statistics of these drugs are ever showing there ugly faces. Psychiatrist (Cole, Joseph, p.9 Para. 1) stated “The brains of young children are developing rapidly, he pointed out, the drugs can alter the process”.

     
     Something very important to remember, according to (Null, G p. 9 Para. 6) The majority of doctors that are prescribing these medications are M. D.’s, they are not Psychiatrists, but primary care givers. They do not have the qualified training of mental illnesses to know what can happen in writing prescriptions for these life altering drugs. It has a great deal to do with quality health care and once again finances over quality of life. (Parents Magazine) points out, “Here, as with almost everything else in the tangled world of health care, behavioral problems, partly because most managed-care plans readily cover the cost of medication but often won’t pay for long-term alternative treatments, such as talk or behavioral therapy.

In my conclusion the point I hope I have properly demonstrated is that we must be careful
with these medications. Research all you can before making a decision to use them and I
would strongly recommend that you get a second opinion and be sure the proper tests are being conducted in order to determine the correct diagnosis. I believe we are on a down ward spiral in the mental health profession with the abuse of anti-depressive and psychotic drugs. There is compounding evidence that money serves a great value to the pharmaceutical industry over quality of life.

References:

Bright, Paul (July 2009) Mark Zimmerman’s study of Bi polar often misdiagnosed, study reveals

Bruce, S. (July 2010) Bipolar is Often misdiagnosed as Depression


Gardiner, H. (March 2011) Talk doesn’t pay, so Psychiatry turns instead to drug therapy. New York Times

Null, G. The Drugging of our Children (familyrightsassociation.com/bihn/white_papers-articles/drugging_our_children/) Joseph Cole

Teen Screen Truth- www.teenscreentruth.com/psychiatry_drugs_suicide.html

Szalavitz, M. (May 2009) Drugging the Vunerable: Atypical Antipsychotics in Children and the Elderly, Time Magazine

    

Why is Outreach so Important?

Why is Outreach Important?

Outreach is important to our church because it is important to God and that makes it important to every Christian for the following reasons:
• Outreach was commanded by Christ. Before His ascension, Jesus told the disciples that their impact on the world should start in their city and expand its influence into the entire world (Matthew 28.19; Acts 1:8; 2 Peter 3:9).
• Outreach is necessary for growth. Worship, discipleship, and serving are important, but if you never progress to the next stage of maturity by being involved in outreach, you will be spiritually lacking and incomplete. In life, organisms that cannot reproduce themselves are generally considered immature, unnatural, unhealthy, or damaged. If one is truly walking with God in discipleship, worship, and service, then outreach will be a natural result. All living things have the ability to produce offspring like themselves. A living church is reproducing, while a dying church has no heart or burden for the lost in their community, state, nation and world (Matthew 9:9-12).
• Outreach both glorifies and pleases God. The Bible tells us that doing God’s work is like a tree bearing a lot of fruit. Jesus told us that God is glorified when we bear fruit by reaching out to others (John 15:8; 1 Timothy 2:3–4).
• Outreach models the life of Christ in meeting needs. Jesus taught us that serving others is the same as serving Christ himself (Matthew 25:31–46).
• Outreach is needed for the survival of Christ’s church. Outreach is to a church what birth is to humanity. Without the reproduction of faith the body of Christ would cease to exist (Luke 15:7).
• Outreach is necessary to reach the world. Of the six billion people in our world, two billion live in unreached people groups with no access to the good news about Christ. Two-thirds of the world’s population are lost without Christ and will not know Him unless Christians fulfill their obligation to go, tell and send (Matthew 28.19; Romans 10:14).
• Outreach results in God’s blessing and favor on your life. The Bible is very clear that God intends to bless those whose hearts are focused on reaching out to lost and hurting people. God clearly affirms those who share His passion and heart for reaching out to those who do not know Him (Genesis 12:1–3; Luke 6:38).
• Outreach requires synergy. Loving our community and world will require individual and organizational cooperation. It calls each of us to set aside our individual preferences and combine our time, talents, and treasures (Ecclesiastes 4:9).

Tragic Event Leaves Speculation of Anti Depressants and No Closure.

Several months ago I made a decision to do something that would in fact change my life as I know it now.  I have discussed my frustrations, my anger and also my empathy for those that had became addicted and found no resort or healing.   It is very hard to discuss something like addiction with just anyone.  Most have there own pre conceived notions of what they think they know or understand.  It goes much deeper than that.  This is a subject that I wake up to every morning and go to bed at night with prayers for those I still know that are struggling and battling beyond them selves in order to break away from it.  I made a commitment to go to school.  Not to make the clinical decisions my path way to success but to expose and learn some of the things most don't understand about the addiction process or have mis sighted there understanding.

I have had many of my own personal experiences knowing and being closely associated to those that have let this intrude upon there lives.  It doesn't change one's life but alters the entire family unit and can cause even break ups in family relationships because of the denial or the enabling.  The person that is fighting this demonic force feels powerless over what they can't seem to get a grip on.  This causes desperate feelings of hopelessness and powerless over there lives and still they fight it daily.

I did not see my self in this position 10 years ago, 5 years ago or even 1 year ago.  I struggled in my own mind many times to question God's authority as to why I had been surrounded by so many drug addicted people.  Maybe I was choosing the wrong type of relationships, not something I fully understand but something I have been dealing with most of my adult life and even most of my child hood years.  The first discovery I made and learned to accept was that drugs do not choose social status, cultural statis, or even personalities.  This does not play into how or why addictions are so present in our lives.

Once I was made aware of the deep root of deception to addiction, it became clear that I couldn't let it rest so made a conscience decision to try to bring this out into the open.  I made a commitment to follow this for the rest of my life.  I discovered there were far more innocent lives that were being taken through prescription pills than there were street drugs.  I researched about children 7 and 8 years old hanging themselves after being on high doses of anti depressants.  Anti depressants do cause suicidal thoughts and what alters our minds will in fact alter our quality of life.  People suffer far greater or far less in many areas through out life.  We all react to our surroundings in different ways and we all develop different coping skills.  I wish I could say this loud enough for those to hear me.  There are things we can't even began to tackle alone and one of these things is drug or alcohol addiction.  It is far greater than we are.

I would have to ask most of those reading this blog if they believe in God?  80 percent would agree with me.  I would ask them again, do you believe what the Bible tells us about things?  Most of those on my facebook would also agree to this statement.  I can't stress this enough.  Any thing that alters the mind to control our emotional state is demonic.  Most of you will not finish reading what I have to say but I can't change that I only pray that you might educate yourself in the word of God so you will understand where this originates from.  If you are choosing to follow the reading are you aware of where the word sorcery came from and the full meaning of the word.  It is a regular word you will see in the Bible.  Most believe it to mean devil worshiping or the occult or a form of dark idolatry.  All of these things are true but the huge deception of the word is you truly don't know the meaning.

The word sorcery was translated through English but the Greek word came through the earlier translation of God's word.  Sorcery is the root word for Pharmakeia.  That looks strange and this word in the English form is Pharmacy, this is where the name originated from.  This is a huge pass over, something that is not being taught or dealt with but is the truth and I hope you gain some insight. I have blogged on this several times and I am not denouncing all medications.  The mind altering drugs are an open passage way to Demonic suggestion.  If you knew the statistics of sexual abuse, rape, murder and suicide you would do a double take on this subject.  They are staggering and quiet shocking. 

We live in a society that we feel fairly trusting of our doctors and our mental and physical health and when something goes wrong, we seek medical attention to try to resolve the problems.  Some of these drugs cause permanent brain damage, some are addictive and you are told you can't live without them.  Now the subject of Big Phara.  is being recognized and the truth is coming out on a higher level of awareness now.  Still much hidden for those that are innocent and feel they are getting there medical needs cured or at least dealt with.  Big Phara in the United States is in fact the hugest supply of dangerous drugs in the world and they are making more as I write this article.  They are making billions of dollars off the innocent that are seeking help with there conditions.  I am not going to spend a great deal of time focusing on the details, you can search my blog and will find evidence of the conclusions of what I am addressing now.

After making a decision to go into the den of the Lions, to seek a long life profession of Substance Abuse, I was rattled the first two weeks of school.  A friend from Jr. High had been following my posts and we had been communicating over the course of 1 year and speaking about the problems of his addiction for close to 6 months.  He was struggling very hard with it.  Had beautiful children, a great career, exceptionally bright but suffered a horrible alcohol addiction he fought for many years.  We prayed together several times and I did encourage him.  He went to the doctor for the help to seek for his withdrawals.  They were so eager to give him anti depressants to help him through his alcohol problem.  He attended church and worked hard towards being sober and ask for encouragement through his friends.  I choose not to name this friend out of respect for his family and other close friends of his.  His last words I saw were I love my Church.

It was Thursday morning I woke to make my coffee and wanted to fellowship with a few before studying that day.  On my news feed was RIP and I could see it was my Jr. High class mate and also my brother in Christ.  I followed the links and got information from several of our friends and it was suicide.  He took his own life.  After the last couple of days we tried to make sense of it all and that is so very impossible.  It just didn't make sense.  I drew a deep thought among others about the prescription pills he had gone to the doctor for his alcohol addiction problem.  Like many others that commit suicide, most have had a history with anti deppresants.

Now I am dealing with this situation of one I have talked to intimately about there addiction and trying to lead them to Christ.  Everything seemed like it was working out.  Nothing made sense.  I don't know why but for two days I couldn't get those pills out of my mind.  3 days later we went back to his page and found where he had posted an article by a Mother that had written about her daughter crying out to her facebook friends and then committed suicide.  He had posted this two days before he ended his life.  I didn't see the signs.  I want to ask you again.  Do you believe in God?  Do you believe in the entire Bible and what it says.  We can't save the world or know the outcome of someone else's life, all we can do is try to bear the burden and pray with them and try to be there for them.

  My situation here can't rest, so I must tell you please truly examine the pros and cons of these prescription pills and don't take my word for it, look for the truth yourself but do not think you are doing someone a helpful favor by feeding them mind altering pills.  Just because they are legal and a doctor can prescribe them, don't play God with another's life.  Research what you are doing and if you indeed do fear God and believe his word, know these things are Biblical and these drugs can very much leave someone wide open to demonic suggestion.  Pray you will all take it into consideration.  Prayers for all that read.  You can read my posting on Pharmakeia on my blog site for more information.

I have an author friend and somehow God provided us a way to share our information on the subject.  He writes fiction and just recently completed his second sequel to the book title Pharmakeia.  His name is Dan Calabrese and he is an adult Sunday school teacher that teaches on the precepts of information I provided and his link is 
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Dan-Calabrese/220540807187  His book plays out some of the fiction demonstrations of the state of altered minds through the drug culture.
http://youtu.be/9ggtixjhw5w