Katinka Newman’s The Pill that Steals Lives brings out the hazards of being put on a treatment that then becomes the problem that other treatments are used to treat. In her case she could have easily killed herself – or her children.
The website 100Families.org lists 1250+ cases where mental health is linked to homicides. The thrust of the website is that mental illness is causing the problem. There is no questioning of the possibility that the drugs may be doing so.
As part of a submission to the Suicide Prevention inquiry underway within the Department of Health, this post and related material looks in more detail at the contribution of treatment to both suicide and homicide.
The long-term use of most psychotropic medications starts with their prescription for conditions that are less serious, transforming these into more serious, and permanent conditions. This “manufacture of mental illness” is enabled by many well-meaning physicians who do not notice the negative effects of the medications they prescribe, even when their patients directly complain about them.
Here is how it works: a patient comes to his/her doctor complaining about anxiety, or depression, related to some situational problem. The patient may directly ask for something to help them cope, or the doctor may suggest it, and a prescription is written. If the patient returns complaining of unpleasant side effects, they are not attributed to the medication, they are perceived by the doctor as a worsening of the original complaint. The doctor usually increases the dose of the original medication, or adds another. This causes more side effects which get medicated and the patient is trapped in a vicious circle.
This does not mean that nobody benefits from psychoactive medication. Medication can be wonderfully helpful for the short-term management of crisis situations from delirium to shock, for people whose symptoms have persisted for months without let-up, and for some who have tried other first line treatments without success.
The medication alone is not the problem. The problem arises when the consequences of being on the wrong medication for you are not recognized. This is particularly unfortunate when the initial problem was an exam anxiety, a debt, or a relationship problem. In circumstances like these, many of us take pills for a magic solution to a life stress and often end up with much more serious problems. “The Pill That Steals Lives” documents this beautifully.
The MHRA, in common with other western regulators, has not changed their medication advice to reflect the emergence in recent years of the actual data from clinical trials of antidepressants and antipsychotics showing an excess of risks over benefits on treatment where ghostwriters had portrayed only efficacy and safety. While warnings about suicidality have been slightly strengthened to reflect this, warnings about violence are deficient. We know that antidepressants and antipsychotics are associated with a much higher rate of violent reactions than other medications; the data from FDA and Health Canada on RxISK shows greatly increased rates for suicidality, paranoia, aggression, homicidal and suicidal ideation, violent acts and completed suicides that are well above what would occur by chance. Yet physicians appear not to be aware of this.
Hundredfamilies and NHS mental health services
It is one thing to accept that research shows that medications worsen mental illness as a general concept, but it is more alarming to spot the phenomenon in individual cases. Of course, in specific cases, it is impossible to know for certain what would have happened without medication. However, when many people in a defined population all exhibit serious worsening as they take medication, then one has to conclude that one is observing the macro effect at ground level. In other words, while we cannot say definitively that drugs caused the problem in any given case, we can be pretty sure that in many cases, they did.
One unfortunate population is that group of individuals who have received mental health services from the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) and committed a homicide. This is a small group of about 1,300 people, not enough to show up as a percent of the population. In some of these cases the NHS requests that the service provided be reviewed or investigated.
A typical description of purpose in the Terms of Reference is:
“The purpose of an independent investigation is to discover what led to an adverse event and to audit the standard of care provided to the individual. An independent investigation may not identify root causes or find aspects of the provision of healthcare that directly caused an incident but it will often find things that could have been done better.
These inquiries/reviews/investigations are thus aimed at preventing deaths wherever possible.
Hundredfamilies is an organization dedicated to raising awareness about the connection between mental illness and violence. They note that:
“Accurate information about mental health and violence, particularly homicides, is not easy to find. Many mental health professionals don’t like talking about the subject, and if they do, they consistently underestimate the true scale of the problem. What information there is, is often partial, inaccurate or incorrect. This section examines the problem of mental health homicides and violence using official reports, sources and evidence. It looks at: The true Numbers of mental health homicides in Britain each year.”
On its website, Hundredfamilies cites over 30 studies that purport to show that mentally ill people are responsible for more homicides than others. All of these studies do show that people who have been diagnosed commit violent crimes at a higher rate. The confounding factor is that these people are also under the influence of medication. So while perpetrators may well have been in a disordered mental state at the time of their crime, it is possible this was caused or exacerbated by medication.
It makes little sense to invest in trying to find ways to avoid future tragedies while avoiding examination of a primary contributing factor. Yet that is exactly what is happening. The belief in the value of psychoactive medications is so strong that the role of medication in tragedies is never explored, leaving the medicated perpetrator to take full responsibility for his/her crime. This is unfair in cases where the perpetrators were taking medication prescribed – and sometimes forced on them against their will – by mental health services. Wherever the possibility exists that it is medications causing violence, then this possibility should be explored, to be consistent with the stated NHS goal of avoiding preventable deaths.
Antipsychotics and antidepressants
To understand the significance of certain facts that can be gleaned in many of the cases, it is important to know about the medications. Although many people in care were on benzodiazepines, all those people were also on either neuroleptics (antipsychotics) and/or antidepressants. These latter are the medications most likely to have played a role in violence.
In the case of the antipsychotics, conventional wisdom holds that these medications are necessary to control the symptoms of psychotic illness, and they somehow “clear up” the thinking of people who take them and keep the takers sane, much as insulin corrects the blood sugar of diabetics. When schizophrenics stop taking their medicines, the story has been, they will relapse and their underlying illness will show up again. The natural corollary was that these people should be kept on these drugs for life. Those who do not want to take the drugs that keep them well, “have no insight into their illness” and must be forced to take the medication for their own good. Despite the fact that it does not fit with the evidence, this remains the prevalent thinking. This misunderstanding is costing a vast number of people their health, and others their freedom and their lives.
Antipsychotics can be extremely helpful but they are essentially tranquilizers that are useful in acute situations – provided the drug given in fact suits the person. The wrong drug or even the right drug at times of changing dose can lead to suicide or homicide.
There are a number of types of antidepressants. The most common are the older tricyclics (TCAs). There are newer sedative agents like Mirtazapine (Remeron). But the most frequently prescribed antidepressants are the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs).
All these medications carry warnings that they can increase suicidal thoughts and actions in young people, although the data is essentially the same for adults. In common with antipsychotics, antidepressants can cause akathisia, psychosis, and impulsive rage reactions. These extreme negative effects are most likely to occur within hours, days or a few weeks after starting the medication, or following a dosage change, or during withdrawal.
Interpreting the NHS review reports
These reviews provide a unique opportunity to challenge the myth that mental illness causes violence. The media and the public accept that diagnosed people who commit crimes do so because of their illness, and this is reflected in news accounts of the crimes. However, the NHS reviews provide an opportunity to look behind the scenes, where in almost every case we find a medication change, akathisia, or other medication-related phenomenon.
Keeping in mind the above facts about antipsychotics and antidepressants, many of the reviews reveal that just prior to many of the tragedies, there was a change to the perpetrator’s medication involving an SSRI or SNRI. In other cases, the perpetrator had a long history on antipsychotics, and was clearly doing poorly shortly before killing someone. Reading the stories from the perspective that prescriptions may have played a role allows for completely different interpretation of the situation.
None of the independent investigations/reviews allow for the possibility that medication was a contributing factor. Some reviewers have meticulously recorded prescriptions, with dates and drug names – as support for the case that the people received good care.
Many reviews, precisely because they do not consider medication a potential factor, omit this type of important detail, making it difficult to determine what role medication might have played. For example, in one case (Marvin Bailey) there are 76 references to medication over 108 pages. However, there are no prescription dates mentioned, and the names of the prescribed drugs are mostly omitted. In the glossary several medications are listed, including fluoxetine, flupentixol, olanzapine, quetiapine and zuclopenthixol, but only three are mentioned in the main report. Mr Bailey had been given depot injections and was under a community treatment order, but medication compliance is the focus of references to medication. Because of the lack of information, this case and others without sufficient detail are difficult to analyze. This does not mean that one can dismiss the possibility that medication played a role. The only valid conclusion is that there is insufficient information, and the original review should have considered the role of medication and collected relevant facts in that regard.
For several cases in different geographic regions of the U.K., an analysis of the case reports has been done from the perspective of allowing for the possibility that medication played a role. In these cases, a typical news article from the time, reporting the killing, is included to illustrate the story that is being fed to the public, for comparison.
Twenty-five such reports, and summaries of the cases can be viewed on SSRIstories.org Behind the Scenes at the NHS. These are mainly drawn from the East of England. They were drawn consecutively so they include at least one case where the drugs seems unlikely to be involved. We would greatly appreciate it if any of you have the time to go in and assess the cases from other regions in the same way.
Katinka Newman’s site The Pill that Steals Lives gives a further series of cases like hers showing the same dynamic but where the outcome is primarily suicide. This series is growing.
What’s in a name?
Another post on this site used the word Prescripticide to label the phenomenon being dealt with here. It might be pushing things too far to add Suicide by Patient – even Inadvertent Suicide by Patient – to the term Suicide by Cop to cover cases of some people who end up dead.
But this is a world where good intentions can be put to other ends. The suicides of patients are used by groups like the American Association for the Prevention of Suicide to increase rates of detection of and treatment of nervous problems – See How Pharma Captures Bereaved Mothers. It is very common to meet people advocating for the detection and treatment, even forced treatment, of mental illness, who do so with all good intentions having had a child or partner or parent die from suicide, when a review of the case points to treatment as the culprit. Exactly the same thing can happen with homicides and violence.
Provided the message remains simple, philanthropic money can be generated to support State or Insurance money to assist. Nobody likes a complex message.
We would be interested in other accounts from across medicine where people have become advocates for treatments not realizing that the treatment may have caused the problem they are now advocating to remedy with further treatment.
Anne-Marie says
Brilliant post, I think the word akathesia should be drummed into every single proffesional. It is the side effect that is the main culprit for many of the suicides and homicides. If you removed that one side effect it would make a life saving big difference.
Anne-Marie says
I had a quick look on the above website and at first was impressed with its layout and information but I was horrified at what they wrote about schizophrenia. I have known quite a few people who were schizophrenic and I can tell you not one of them was violent or aggressive. They then talk about stigma well their not doing a bad job on stigmatising people with schizophrenia. I was quite disgusted with what I was reading. No mention of the drugs they were taking from what I read.
Any violence or aggression I have read about in the papers involving schizophrenia was normally related to them not taking their medication or their medication being stopped abruptly. Its obvious its about the medication their on.
I stopped reading because I was shocked at what they were saying.
mary says
A brilliant post containing so much information.
Just wondering if there has been a noticeable increase in cases of suicide/ homicide since the introduction of ‘care in the community’? Many are now dealing with their mental states with less intervention than of old – although the title of the care suggests the opposite. Their reactions to medications are therefore less regularly checked, and thoughts less often shared with others. Also, we tend to live our lives with less contact with others – maybe thoughts are allowed to fester which would, otherwise have been shared.
I think that the use of alcohol coupled with these medication needs a MUCH LOUDER MESSAGE ABOUT ITS DANGERS. Alone, feeling rough, not sleeping, not eating – what does an individual do? He/she will turn to a drop of the hard stuff – after all, the adverts show that, with a glass in hand, you become the life and soul of the party. Surely it will do you good when you are alone?
Medications may say ‘do not consume alcohol’ and then add a bit about
‘drowsiness’ and ‘machinery’. Hardly giving the reality of what can REALLY happen when you put alcohol in the mix is it?
It is my firm belief that the MEDICATIONS are the problem but adding alcohol may be increasing the irrational thinking surely? Added to which, in law, they cling to the ‘alcohol’ and the meds. are conveniently forgotten about.
Maybe an insistence that a stronger message regarding alcohol should be added to these medications would, in turn, also give a clearer message about the REAL DANGERS of such strong medications?
Julie Wood says
Dear Mary,
Your point about measuring suicides and homicides while on meds is SOOO important. But as the host of Antidepaware can tell you, in the UK coroners do not categorize this type of death, so really there is no way for us to know. It is not only that they do not record the meds but they very often count apparent suicides as something else (open verdicts) for various reasons. North America is the same. It is inexcusable that we are not recording the information so that we can learn what is happening.
mary says
I think I’m right in saying that the number of suicides is on the increase? There must be a reason somewhere surely? Number of prescriptions for psychiatric conditions are at their highest ever aren’t they? Alcohol is becoming more and more of a problem in our society right? Care in the community for mental health conditions is, in general terms, weak – right? Humans now are pretty much like humans were – correct?
Putting all of that together, I can see no explanation other than that the easy access to the medications ( doctor’s prescription pad) and alcohol (cheap supermarket offers) coupled with difficulty in accessing support create the framework for despair. We could add lack of work etc. to the mix but we have seen that in past generations – the number of suicides then were a mere shadow of today’s figures.
Since the judicial system fails, on the whole, to recognise the
possibility of adverse reactions to most meds., should we really be surprised that suicides and their causes are hidden from our view too?
Anything that is ‘hidden’ has the possibility of being ‘found’ – maybe one day!
annie says
I read this wonderful description and reached the end with the question, it’s proving it, isn’t it?
As my own example, showed, an attractive and articulate lady, (psychiatrist and gp said the same thing:) is put on Seroxat for a situational problem caused by an air ambulance pilot.
The problem was sorted between the two central characters in the plot, but one body who didn’t cause the problem is now on a lethal medication.
There were so many ridiculous errors primarily arising between a psychiatrist and a gp who barraged the patient independently of each other and if one had just spoken to the other, then the end result would have been avoided.
That was much too easy, it was far easier for each of them to take a stand and if it wasn’t so serious, it would be laughable at the way they carried on.
So what was the problem, here?
I will tell you because I was at a whisker of being dead and I would have been dead for fourteen years.
UK Giant, Glaxosmithkline could not believe their luck when their Sales Force included all the doctors and psychiatrists in the land who backed their products to the hilt.
GSK love their doctors and psychiatrists to bits as in the main nobody is complaining.
What doctor or psychiatrist has taken a stand on your behalf to protect you from these evil corporations and from these evil drugs.
You cannot trust any doctor to tell the truth, because they don’t know what the truth is.
Their pills are their tool box and if you took away the Seroxats of this world, you effectively neutor their ability to have any function at all………..we are not in Dr. Finlay territory any more…..we are in a nasty, collective, on a winning streak
http://www.hundredfamilies.org/the-victims/scotland/
One thought on “Scotland”
william mcclelland says:
17th January 2016 at 10:22 pm
is the man who killed my father john mcclelland in aberdeen still in prison ? i hope you rot in hell
I really get William, but, William will never know and nobody will ever tell him that he may have completely the wrong target….but, his anger is understood, somebody took away his father……
Rachel E says
Hundredfamilies.com sounds like a site for bigots! I’m never logging onto that swastika fest.
If a bunch of grieving families got together who had lost their family members to criminals who belonged to some racial minority and doctors claiming to be authorities on that race–say African American Specialists (all of European descent themselves) claimed that the reason they murdered those victims is because it was in their genes and we needed to decrease racism by educating the public about how it wasn’t their fault because they were genetically inferior and therefore prone to violence and dangerous behavior.
What all members of that inferior race really needed and deserved was to be incarcerated and have their hands amputated. Very humane treatment! We know this because the “experts” assure us that this is so, and if they scream when their hands are cut off it is because of the relief they feel once the procedure is performed. It’s not like they have real feelings like the rest of us of course! Bleeding to death is an unavoidable side effect.
Who isn’t able to see what a bunch of racist garbage this would be! Another way to commit genocide while pretending to be humane at the same time. Claiming to be anti-racist while spouting out a bunch of patently racist defamatory claptrap. No one would publish such a bunch of slanderous nonsense except for some fanatic hate-groups. Yet people struggling with labels of mental illness have to endure this crap all the time from every major media group. Clueless shrinks who couldn’t pour water out of a bucket without instruction manuals, coming on TV for their ten minutes of fame telling everyone how lacking in empathy and murderous “bipolars” are as a symptom of their illnesses.
A good question is if we are all supposed to be so evil and dangerous why aren’t there even more mass shootings? Consider the way we are treated by everyone–especially the “experts” who pretend they want to help us. Help us? Yes, into some segregated ghetto and then an early grave!
Anne-Marie says
They give strong intense cravings for alcohol in some people. There should be warnings that SSRIS can exacebate or induce heavy drinking in some people. They should also be contraindicated in a select sub group of alcoholics.
Mr Sensible says
A very important point. I am a recovering alcoholic, 10 yrs sober when prescribed SSRI’s for ‘work related stress.’ Is it not vital that a person such as myself is warned of such a potential side effect if they are going to be precribed such a drug? I did not experience that particular side effect, although I was aware of its possibility having heard other AA members describing having experienced it. The longest sober memebr of AA in the area that I live had a lapse back to drinking after 27 years sober which they attributed to an AD giving them intense cravings for alcohol-serious stuff this side effect for recovering alcoholics and there needs to be a lot more awareness of this within recovery communities. Witnessed a similar one recently, someone who started smoking twice as much as they usually did after being placed on Prozac, thats really good for their health isn’t it! and GPs love nipping peoples heads about smoking then give out drugs that make then smoke more. Come to think of it, is any GP in any position to lecture their patients about the evils of alcohol and tobacco when their prescribing AD’s to people.
pcng says
I knew the guy who killed the father of the chap who set up the 100 families website. The guy had lost his own father at a young age and had fucked himself up with, mainly, amphetamine use. If he had had the right support at the right time the tragedy may have been prevented, but as usual, there is no help for people as they edge towards falling off a mental cliff. Intervention only happens when it is too late and then rather than address the underlying issues they just fuck you up with legal drugs instead. Such a horrible tragedy for all concerned.
Anne-Marie says
Wished I’d read the whole website before commenting. I actually really feel for the guy that runs the website, his doing his best to bring awareness about the causes behind why some people with mental illness do what they do.
I hope he gets to see.this website as well and learn more about the medications.
Heather says
To pick up on Mary’s question, why are there so many more suicides these days? I think, partly cos of the dishing out of meds without much follow up monitoring of akathesia, and partly cos GPs and psychiatrists seem more likely, maybe due to time factor (and frustration?) to cut corners by adopting an unsympathetic approach, more combative, as if to goad the patient into pulling their socks up.
We have just attended today, as NHS Trust stakeholders, one of the sessions designed to avail us of new plans for primary & secondary mental health care. Yet another 7.5 percent has to be cut off the budget. We suggested reducing so much prescribing of antidepressants etc to save Pharma costs but were told its GPs who are doing this, and they have their own budgets and are a law unto themselves…. This meeting, full of plans to cut beds, close wards, increase self referral scheme, left us feeling very impotent and hopeless. It’s supposed to be a consultative process but has to be adopted by October! On a PowerPoint presentation screen it looks, at best, interesting, but in reality, we all feel (most if not all the audience) that there are just not the manpower resources to make it work. It’s like they are whistling in the dark.
One lady in one part of the county, due to be worst hit by the closure of services, expressed concern that CAMS is not working and that medication for young people is being used as main resource cos there is nothing else. We passed out RxIsk info to as many as we could. All were worried about reports of meds not working and no one listening. Also of endless staff changes in Care Co-ordinators, which make it even harder for the mentally unwell to cope with. We didn’t feel Management, the presenters, really grasped our concerns, or, if they did, were just jumping over them like a horse over hurdles.
So, why more suicides? Partly cos there is no sound unchanging structure to build on, GPs can’t refer by ringing psychiatrists direct and having a word or two, all has to go through central hub telephone. Personal touch lost. Accountability not there. This is industrial healthcare, full of tick boxes and documents, the watching of backs, but all the time, the whole healing purpose flies away into ‘blue sky thinking’ whatever that is. So, ‘what’s a few more suicides folks, nothing we guys can do about it, we are too busy baling out water before the ship sinks’. And no, this isn’t really countrywide consultation cos the decisions have really already been made, to fit the budget. And no one seems prepared to challenge the budget, although Government keeps assuring us that they are pumping more money into mental healthcare. So where is it going?
mary says
Where is it all going, Heather? – into the big companies – pharma and private treatment/care – and to line the pockets of their shareholders. We saw recently (was it Bob who gave us the link?) how many of our MPs have ‘interests’ in such companies – rather obvious that they are looking after their own before they consider the rest of us.
As a nation though, I really do think that we ought to consider the role that alcohol plays in all of this. There again, the gains from all the promotions are not ours but shareholders in big companies. If alcohol was not present in tragic cases that we are all aware of, then, maybe the truth of the devastation caused BY THE MEDICATIONS would slowly begin to seep through in our judicial cases and news reporting?
Why is it that alcohol( a known depressant) gets column space in papers but the accompanying medications do not? You have to really push ( and I mean ‘push’ – as in knowing a freelance reporter!) in order for the piece to acknowledge that the meds. are the MAIN factor, with alcohol as a contributory.
Guidance, merely in paper form, does not work – strong words from all connected to mental health work is necessary. It is absolutely astonishing that voluntary patients on a mental health ward can go shopping and consume alcohol. It is rather obvious that they will also be on strong medications. Why are we so complacent? – I guess because we all like to ‘unwind’ with a drop or two every now and again. The problem comes when the ‘again’ overrides the occasional use and is combined with the other, even stronger drugs.
PCNG says
More suicides because of what the global elite are doing to families, cultures, countries and people’s sense of identity, belonging and mutuality.
Anne-Marie says
Computers and Internet is probably where their going. I went to Croydon Council the other week and walked to a brand new multimillion pound building, inside was like being in an airport check In. They had computers down each side and a long line of telephone booths, several security guards too but not one member of staff from the council to be seen. They will only communicate by telephone or computer.
This is the way their going I have a feeling this is going to happen everywhere. Your just a number in a phone que.
Heather says
From what my husband and I have observed, both at NHS Locality Forums and personally, the mega bucks in UK are going to the ever growing Management strata, which reproduces itself constantly and unnecessarily like a humungus fungus. We have NHS Managers for everything, we have endless buildings all over each county bursting with these managers, hospital car parks are full of managers’ cars before any out patients or visitors arrive.
In the olden days, when there was still common sense in the NHS and before the single market got going, we had (in the general hospital where I worked), the rather Hospital Secretary who had his office at the end of a corridor; you went and got your monthly cheque from him, signed for it and had a few friendly words. That was Management. And we had Matron. And everyone knew everyone. I know it was 45 years ago, and maybe it was primitive, but a suicide was a very rare thing in our area then. If one occurred and we lost a patient, people talked of nothing else for weeks. As social workers we were taught that no one expressing need or sadness must be allowed to slip through the net and sink. Our whole purpose was to care. We didn’t earn a lot but we had self respect.
Our present Mental Health CEO has a pension pot already standing at well over £800,00. If you start multiplying up average salaries of say, £35,000 per manager (and that’s probably low) times hundreds in each county, it becomes mind blowing. Then the top ones of course earn way more than the PM.
Add to this the massive drugs bill. And the locus from Agencies. I bet there’s not a lot left for Mental Health service provision for each patient. And a little bird told us, in our region, that some of our mental health care budget money had been shuffled across to bale out A&E anyway. With each tier of management, as it waterfalls down, a bit more gets taken out, so when it reaches the thirsty patient, it has almost run dry. Perhaps it’s time a few dams were built and some buckets issued.
mary says
Yes, Heather, and who are the Managers’ best buddies???
The Governments have a lot to answer for. Need good hefty dams I think – and a plentiful supply of buckets! Know a good, trustworthy dam builder anybody? Us pensioners will get the buckets on a Wednesday because we get a discount!
Heather says
Mary, the top Managers, for whom the job is a career, not a ‘calling’ are feeding back to politicians what they want to hear, so that the politicians can keep their seats in Government by assuring the voters that all is well and they are safely steering the ship. So we have a magic circle, or the ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ syndrome. The top Managers get salaries and pensions that are way beyond any justification for what they do. There seems at the same time, no accountability. We hear that Southern Health Trust have created a parallel previously non- existent post for Ms ?Piercy, the CEO who had overseen so many failings in her organisation, whilst she was being paid £240,000 pa. There were no other contenders for this post which has the same salary, pension etc. My personal guess is the Trust did this cos otherwise she might have sued them for a lot more, for wrongful dismissal, and in this extraordinary world of injustices, she might have won.
The buck stops at the top, hence the value of this Gov Suicide Report which many of us are sending our contributions for, by tomorrow, Friday 9th September. The system is flawed, but incentives, like Honours for CEOs are given by Government to keep them delivering what they think the public want to hear.
But you can’t fool all the people all the time, the public are finding out more and more, from sites like this, and a cauldron is bubbling. The lid is getting near blowing off, I really do hope and feel.
Mr Sensible says
Health service beauraucrats are a self prepetuating species, biology has a name for it which I cant quite remmember. They survive by creating work for others in the system, usually in the form of paper or databases these days, which in turn creates the need for more beauraucrats to process the paper and do the statistics, thereby creating more need for beauraucrats and subsequently ensuring their survival and reproduction as a species. I’m quite into looking at things from a biological point of view at present.
Heather says
Correction, CEO pension £800,000. Left a nought off. Maths isn’t my strong point. But you get the general idea. And we know this is right, it was on an F.O.i.report.
annie says
Interesting figures:
http://digital.nhs.uk/catalogue/PUB20943
Sex, Lies and Videotape
China, what China?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-reilly-00391411
Video, what Video?
http://uk.businessinsider.com/mark-reilly-gsk-sex-video-and-china-bribery-allegations-2014-6?r=US&IR=T
Everyday pharming folk..
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/health-committee/news-parliament-20151/suicide-prevention-inquiry-launch-16-17/
Heather says
Sorry, meant to say the ‘rather normal, approachable’, dare I say, ‘ordinary’ Hospital Secretary, who was not watching his back if there were problems, things were dealt with openly and without cover up – as far as I know of course. People who did not do their jobs properly and were shown to be negligent, got sacked. They did not get moved sideways into other similar positions on high salaries.
And I’d be very interested to know, from DH, whether he believes that the NHS system called ‘Patient Choice’ actually applies to Psychiatry. In other words, if a patient wants to choose to see a psychiatrist on referral from their GP, in the NHS, do they have that choice, and if not, what does ‘Patient Choice’ actually mean?
I see that DH’s ‘mission’ – for want of a better word, is to inform the patient and practitioner of the need for best practice, ie using drugs only when appropriate and with all parties having complete understanding of their effects, and he also accepts that there are psychiatrists who are found to be less than effective for their patients, whilst there are many who are very helpful. So, if ‘Patient Choice’ is really what it sounds like, can the patient choose, within reason, who they see?
I ask this cos your string starts with mention of some physicians not having learnt, or maybe not wanting to know, when drug side effects are causing serious illness, despite the often desperate patient, trying to explain this. So what recourse for better treatment does that patient have, apart from ‘choosing’ to see someone else? How long, if they are ‘allowed’ to do this, should they be expected to wait, for a first appointment with someone else. Naturally, I’m assuming that the patient is not chopping and changing for the sake of it, but is acting calmly and sensibly.
The service user, as the patient is now called, pays for the service through taxation. So surely the service user should have some choice about the ‘service’ they are purchasing? If the product is not of acceptable quality, they should be allowed to send it back, check with others what/who is more effective, and choose something/someone else. I know this applies to physical treatment, so why not in mental health?
Heather says
I’m wondering what the legalities would be of having a site, maybe part of RxIsk, where we could list all UK and USA psychiatrists, private or NHS (and those who are a bit of both) and have service users rate them according first to their attitude to listening, and also how helpful their treatments have been. There could be designated space for rating various categories of ability and customer satisfaction, but avoiding perhaps too much space for vitriolic accounts; all we need to know is – how open to RxIsk research were they, and how willing to work positively with the service users’ expressed wishes re meds etc. This would give us CHOICE and might make more of them do some research, leading to being more ready to listen if they know patients will pass recommendations or warnings to potential patients, before getting involved.
Hope this is not a stupid question.
I realise there are not many who would have a high rating score right now, (or maybe there are but we just haven’t heard about them yet) but we are always told that competition is a wonderful thing which breeds excellence, and also everyone has their pride, so to be shown on the site with a very poor rating would be at least embarrassing and at best, might hit their wallets. We could allow them brownie points each month, for progress and effort…..
Dr. David Healy says
Heather
This is exactly what RxISK reports are about. We want people to take reports to doctors and report back who listens – but it has to be listening about an adverse event. It cannot just be this doctor has a nice manner. RxISK is happy to host lists or maps of doctors who listen. Trouble is it appears from posts here and on davidhealy.org most people who have tried this have had a bad experience and most people in general just haven’t tried it because they seem to worry that most doctors will turn nasty.
David
Heather says
Sure, but if there really is this much vaunted ‘Patient Choice’, then they won’t need to retreat in fear of doctors ‘turning nasty’. They can just go elsewhere. In the end, isn’t it a question of preserving one’s own health, even if the doctor doesn’t like what you want or don’t want to do. We are not here to be bullied by doctors or to worry about their sensibilities. They, at the end of the day, are here to do a job, ‘first do no harm’ etc. If enough people start making enough fuss when they mess the job up, the playing field can get levelled. Unfortunately so many of them get this hubris thing and feel they know best and won’t listen. But they are doling out incredibly dangerous tablets and diving for cover when things go wrong. So they MUST be made more accountable, and I feel a website, accessible to all, could show the world how they work. There is already one called ‘Rate this Doctor’ but we need one specifically designed with RxISK guidelines. So, if the doc turns nasty when given the RxISK form, the patient records this on the site, for all to read.
My question was: do you officially know if ‘Patient Choice’ applies in mental health, or just for physical health? I have asked various NHS personnel and get conflicting answers. Currently, (and this arrangement has been running for several years) if you need, say, to see an NHS knee surgeon, having visited your GP and agreed you need to be seen by a specialist, you get a letter and form offering you a choice of hospital, normally three around your area, and you can choose the surgeon too. So, does this happen with psychiatry, is my question. And if not, why not?
Mr Sensible says
‘Patient Choice’ is an Orwellian Buzz word in the NHS Heather, However, I think you appear to realise that.
Heather says
Yes, in the end I found a website all about it, an NHS one – very long winded re aims and mission etc, but hiding in the small print near the end, it says ‘mental health’ is excluded from Patient Choice. What a shame. Thanks for responding to my question Mr Sensible.
Anonymous says
You can rate any Dr in the world on this website anonymously.
http://www.healthcarereviews.com/
annie says
The Journalist:
http://www.madinamerica.com/2016/09/confessions-of-a-trespasser/
The Investigator:
http://1boringoldman.com/index.php/2016/08/27/scathing-indictments/
Because MN was struck by lightning, a thread went on for longer than it would normally
Most of the commenters are psychiatrists
Question:
How do we feel about the general conversation about you me and the lampost
I was struck by lightning recently, too and the crack overhead at four in the morning in a caravan was terrifying and my router melted.
I found local alternatives for a week to catch up..
Answer:
Can we broaden our reach please and discuss how US sites reflect on US, the pill takers or is it only that I spent decades working as a ‘high powered exec’ in America/Canada in a ‘man’s world’ and therefore have a take that is not the usual take..
Is our cluster, here, stronger, better, more eloquent or is their cluster there, stronger or more eloquent
How many flit all over the web, every day and does it matter
mary says
As far as I am aware, Heather, it’s a case of ‘he who shouts loudest etc.’ as far as changing psychiatrists goes. Totally unfair, I agree, but when you are at the end of your tether and an offer comes your way, you sure will grab it. If that ‘offer’ had not been made, in our case, then I seriously doubt that I could have kept my sanity for much longer – my son now admits that he’d already given up on making any progress with the previous team.
Where the answer lies, I do not know. I don’t think we can say that it’s generational – we came across two fantastic, very young psychiatrists years ago – they insisted that our son be taken off Seroxat almost instantly. The near-retirement psychiatrist whom he saw in clinic agreed with them although he’d done nothing of the sort over the previous three months. The psychiatrist that now supports his withdrawal from medications is older than they were but holds the same opinions. What can we draw from this? Had the two young psychiatrists spent time as students of the present psychiatrist? That, I suppose is quite possible. If so, I can only hope that they have remained true to their knowledge of those early days rather than falling into the trap of following the pharma line!
The main difference that I can see is in the skill of listening to the patient and learning of the INDIVIDUAL NEEDS of the patient rather than going ‘by the book’ as is so often the case.
I came across a catchy saying somewhere online – “it’s rather disturbing that a doctor calls his work his ‘practice'”. Maybe some of them haven’t practised quite enough yet!
Anne-Marie says
280 Different scales lol I give up reading about psychiatry.
annie says
All things International
Shocking figures released by Bob on the current state of prescribing by the foolhardy and good timing a pre Prozac story worthy of everyone’s read
https://www.cchrint.org/2016/09/08/1-million-0-5-year-olds-prescribed-psychiatric-drugs/
Sound the alarm:
http://www.madinamerica.com/2016/09/my-daughter-and-prozac/
annie says
Its really quite funny as Dr. Ben Goldacre begins his Antipodean Tour and Mickey Nardo is back from lightning…
Just one small point.
RIAT was a once in a lifetime opportunity with Study329 which may provide a catalyst….how is it then that promoting Glaxosmithkline in Alltrials publicity (Rob Frost) is somehow acceptable when they are subject to US and UK Litigation and how does innocent until proved guilty become acceptable to any party involved in such when guilty until innocent is self evident…….?
http://1boringoldman.com/index.php/2016/09/09/sliced-bread/
Ben Goldacre has come under fire for including pharma and other commercial types in his projects – sleeping with the enemy. The fear is that they will become Trojan Horses that will corrupt the enterprise from within. I’m in the innocent until proven guilty camp myself [with vigilance]. Like Bad Science, Bad Pharma, AllTrials, and COMPare, OpenTrials is a really good idea…
Well Ben Goldacre isn’t still 12 years old, but he’s certainly in the generation that can see the possibilities. And he’s hooked up with the right people
The right people:
http://opentrials.net/advisory-board/
Dr Rob Frost
Dr Rob Frost is Policy Director within GlaxoSmithKline’s Office for the Chief Medical Officer (CMO).
The CMO is the ‘voice of the patient’ within GSK, leading the culture and governance framework to place the interests of the patient at the centre of research, development and commercialisation of medicines. As part of the Medical Policy group, Rob helps to develop internal policies and GSK external positions in areas of medical governance, including the ethical conduct and disclosure of research.
Since joining GSK in 2011, Rob has supported the development of new transparency commitments around disclosure of clinical trial information, such as the clinicalstudydatarequest.com initiative to provide external researchers with access to anonymised patient level trial data. He has also worked closely on topics relating to data privacy and ethics, including ongoing revisions to European data protection legislation.
The choice, sliced bread or the bloomer..
https://www.thinkinc.org.au/events/ben-goldacre/
Anne-Marie says
Not sure I would agree with the innocent until proven guilty Annie it seems to be the other way round for the victims.
Carla says
PCNG hit the nail on the head.
It is the global elite who ruin families, good health, cultures, countries and people’s sense of identity, belonging and mutuality.
Some medical professionals who ruin people’s good health, take no responsibility or accountability when something unforeseen happens to a patient. They do unnecessary tests upon tests to determine the harm the medication(s) induce, which then poses the poor patient to more unnecessary risks.
The pharmaceutical companies run for cover when they get caught out. Class actions are required for this to occur.
The people running the countries pretend that nothing is happening and accept corrupt money from these corrupt organizations.
Some medical professionals accept their pathetic trinkets and corrupt money to entice them to try out a new medication on the ‘unanointed’ poor souls.
Some lawyers represent you when they can make a dime out of you.
Can you see how the whole process is fundamentally flawed.
It is a system that makes the elite wealthy and then the poor souls that have been harmed, generate more wealth for the ‘greedy ones’.
These global elite will do anything to make you look crazy and dysfunctional.
They place incorrect labels on you.
They make your bad health look like it is a result of a mental disorder.
They not only ruin your good health, finances, families lives etc……… they then go to further extent to make you lose all credibility in society.
There are some poor souls who are on medication who are ruined beyond belief.
They lie, misinform, deny and make you look crazy for speaking the TRUTH.
If you are not part of the dysfunctional system and you question everything, please ‘look out’, you are in for a very rude surprise.
Heather says
Carla explains it perfectly – the whole utter horror of it all. I don’t know which bit is the worst – but I think finally, the not being believed, by those who have been given our trust, is the biggest betrayal.
I think too, the wrecking of families, is absolutely terrible. It’s inevitable, because apart perhaps from those closest to the sufferer, the others keep saying ‘the doctors know best’ and blame those who fight for the patient’s case as being delusional and ridiculous.
We can only speak as bereaved parents, but we have lost wider family support too. So we are very much alone with our loss now. Some families have always had deeper issues, like jealousy and other complications, so to see this kind of tragedy happen to you enables them to judge and criticise and proselytise more than ever. Our son was never ‘mentally ill’ but had been badly bullied about supposedly being ugly (due to acne) from the age of 15. He was incredibly clever, had a wonderful mind, was very witty and delightful to be with, and seemed to have a great future. I don’t think enough notice is taken of the dreadful effect that peer bullying about appearance can have on youngsters, particularly the sensitive thoughtful ones. This isn’t classic body dysmorphia, (unhappiness about your body in some respect for no particular reason), this is having to literally put on a good face every day and cope with/ignore the insults, because others find the way you look unacceptable. You never thought you had a problem till the remarks started. And then you have to deal with the remorseless taunting.
And indeed, our son didn’t have a problem, till the misery of acne began. And then, aged 21, the misery of the acne treatment drug RoAccutane/isotretinoin which he felt in the end at Uni he had to resort to, to stop the taunting.
….. And then the whole horror of Seroxat, to deal with the effects of low mood and physical problems caused by the acne drug.
……And then being so ill on the combination of those two drugs, that it looked as though he was in a mini psychosis, so being given other drugs like Risperdal which made him have terrible akathisia, but no one listened to him.
When asked what was his problem, all he could offer was the awful memories of the terrible bullying at school and asked the doctors if he really was unacceptably ugly; for by now his mind was losing the plot. But doctors are apparently not allowed to make personal comments about appearance – this would have been deemed as ‘reassurance’, so they declined to answer. So lost in the fear of all this, and with horrendous side effects of Seroxat, both on it and when he stopped it, he became too ill to complete his second year at Uni.
But, always resilient, he formed his own IT and photographic publishing companies and made a great success of them. But always in the background of his mind was the chemical anxiety which had started from the medications and the PTSD about his supposed unacceptable appearance. So, when some other major stress kicked in, (we guess it was PSSD but he never said much about it except that one time he did get emotionally upset about it) he was offered Escilatopram, and then it was downhill all the way, through Venlafaxine, Zopiclone, Lorazepam, (then suddenly instructed to stop everything at once by a psychiatrist with a ‘confrontational and hypnotic approach’ who was anti-drug). That made things much much worse. Seeing how much worse, instead of admitting it was due to withdrawal, this guy harangued our son for being attention seeking and unco-operative, but lobbed in some Olanzapine presumably to counter the roaring akathisia and his colleague in OP clinic added Sertraline.
Our son attempted to end it all by drowning himself in July 2012, after a dreadfully humiliating derogatory tirade, in front of us, and the whole Home Treatment Team. He was unsuccessful, but begged me to finish the job for him as his pain in head and body was unbearable. Meantime the social worker Care (!) Co-ordinator told us to leave him alone as his words about wanting to die were just said as an attention-seeking ploy to frighten us….he also told our son, in front of my husband, that if he’d really wanted to die, he’d have made a better job of it and cut an artery.
Well, 4 years ago this week, in September, having carefully made a Will, and written beautiful letters to those closest to him, he did make ‘a better job’ of it. He did this about 2 months after the haranguing meeting with the psychiatrist. We also saw that in his diary there was another appointment, I think for the following day, to see the social work Care Co-ordination. To have to see that obnoxious man, whose first comment each time he opened his front door was ‘still here then – not dead yet?’ was too much in the end for him to take, on top of how the Olanzapine and Sertraline and withdrawal cold turkey from Venlafaxine were making him feel. I guess he felt betrayed by all those who should have understood. His hope was completely gone. This fits with all Carla says in her comment – she puts it so much better than I can, cos she probably knows some of what he must have been feeling.
We have gone through all the process of complaints procedures and have watched, in disgust, the pathetic squirming of the NHS CEO etc, and the GMC. No responsibility taken, no justification offered. They are sorry we feel upset, apparently…..
We miss Olly so dreadfully, there are no words left to describe how we feel, particularly this week. I sit by the sea today – his favourite place, and am glad he is safe and out of pain.
Heather says
Just to clarify the one point, it was the Home Treatment Lead psychiatrist who delivered the humiliating tirade in front of his Team, witnessed by us all, to our quiet, polite son, who, like us, was totally shocked. His crime was presumably to have said he felt suicidal. The Team then stood up and left his flat, he, in gentlemanly fashion, ( because he was a gentleman at all times) shook hands with them all and apologised for having wasted their time! He was as aghast as were we, at the words of the psychiatrist, who told him he was stopping Home Treatment after barely 2 weeks ‘because he had not co-operated’. Our son had tried to co-operate in every way, even with CBT which he had done for years and probably knew more about it than they did. But his brain was so fuzzy he could hardly see, never mind write. But write he did, and I have the sheets of CBT work he did during those 2 months, to prove how hard he tried.
It became clear later, from info we gleaned unofficially, that Home Treatment social workers were very stretched that summer, short staffed due to holiday time, and our son was deemed attention seeking by the psychiatrist, maybe cos he lived in a nice small rented flat, had a successful business, and loving parents and girlfriend. ‘What had he got to be suicidal about?’ Exactly. Only the chemical damage done to his poor brain over 11 years from all the useless medication, and the hopelessness when he realised that no medic had the sense to see or admit it, and worse, that his character had been assassinated too. He wrote us an email the day after that awful meeting including the words “Mum and Dad, I love you, I am so sorry, I did not realise what an awful person I was…”
You were not an awful person Olly, and we hope, wherever you are, you know that now. We should have fought harder to save you from the system. But we didn’t know about RxISK then.
Carla says
Dear Heather,
Thank you for your kindness. It means a lot to me.
I believe society places so much emphasis on all the wrong things.
Can you imagine how vulnerable young people are?
Unfortunately, there is so much pressure put on everyone these days to be the best at everything and if you do not fit the ‘gold standard’, whatever this may be, you are a complete failure.
If we felt comfortable in our own skins and learned to love ourselves, blemishes and all, we would not cave in to all these societal pressures.
We have to teach our children how to love themselves and sometimes no matter how much effort we put in, they can cave in to all the not so good stuff that is out there.
Heather, I am sorry your son has been through so much, especially with being on this earth, for such a short amount of time.
We have to cultivate a culture of compassion, racial tolerance, love, peace, equality and justice however, there is so much societal pressure to perform, to be competitive, comparing ourselves to celebrities, racial discrimination, looking beautiful, having the best house, car, job, etc………. what does this all mean?
If we have all these material possessions and treat our fellow man like something inferior, are we really any better than the person next to us?
An honest, hardworking, ethical and caring person is worth more than all the riches in the world. Without these qualities we are hollow vessels.
It is sad that we have to resort to pills for everything.
If I knew what I know now, I would have turned my back on Western medicine as soon as I came out of my mother’s womb.
Your son, has been to hell and back and despite everything he has tried to do his best to function in this dysfunctional society.
I can fully appreciate how your beautiful son would have been diminished to nothing once all the ‘so called professionals’ had finished with him.
Another good life sadly destroyed by those who do not give a damn about what these medicines do.
Do they have any respect for human life? Sometimes I wonder???
I am sorry you lost your son, Heather. I am sorry no one listened to you and I am sorry no one believed in you or him. When hope is all gone, what did he have to look forward to?
Sadly, nothing has changed and this chemical drugging that keeps going on, is an act of murder, especially to those vulnerable souls who have no voice in how they are being treated. Rest in peace Olly and know that they cannot do anymore harm to you now.
Heather, I would like to share something with you that many risk to create a better life for all but sadly our voices are still not heard. I send you oceans of love Heather and be brave and strong knowing that his generous spirit will always be with you.
Do We Really Live In A Country Of Democracy?
How would you feel if your civil rights were violated by a few mean spirited people in your country?
What if you were ‘blacklisted’ for no apparent reason and many individuals in positions of power, made your life hell just because you spoke up about an important matters.
If you were deliberately harmed by policies that men in position of power created and they blatantly disregard or morally refuse to accept their bad policies, what would you do?
Money, status and power are often abused by those whom we put our trust in.
I believe that there are a selected few who would definitely get away with murder because of their status, privileged upbringing, race or political background.
The systems, law and society in general have turned their backs on a lot of good people out there?
If they speak up about something which impacts everyone, the very people who are part of the judicial/legal/medical system should be doing everything to uphold the dignity of these people who are trying to do the right thing.
If anything, you incriminate a lot of innocent people and condemn them to a life of hell for defending civil liberties.
Everything is upside down, these days because we give too much power to those who have no respect for the human race.
All men are born equal however, some have more rights than others and it does not matter if you are black/white, rich/poor, healthy/sick, educated/uneducated ~
It is who you know and what you are, that gives you justice.
If you are a member of some other organization who protects/preserves your rights, does this mean that the judicial system is totally biased.
Any organization that is run by people who are prejudiced against individuals who speak the truth, have forgotten about the declaration of civil rights.
I believe that some rights only pertain to a selected few.
Sad, considering that we are supposed to all be born equal.
Equal until no one rocks the boat!
Carla says
What is the difference between a dishonest an honest person?
An honest person never lies, steals or cheats.
A dishonest person will lie, steal and cheat and it does not matter which profession you are in, there are always going to be individuals who believe they are entitled to break all the rules because they believe they can!
Just because they have worked hard???? or were born with a silver spoon in their mouth to get where they are, they believe that they can treat anyone like dirt.
Rules apply for everyone and if the system does not get you, there is someone almightier than us that oversees everything, who will get you! I have seen natural justice in action.
So we trust these professionals to do the right thing by us however, when they all get together and believe they are entitled to ruin someone else’s life, the wheels of karma will come back to them. What comes around goes around.
CAVEAT:
Do not be fooled by people making you believe that they are there to benefit you.
There are so many professionals who are in it for themselves.
Some hide behind their profession making many believe that they are respectable people of the community.
I say open up your eyes and see some of these professionals for who they truly are.
Dishonesty can thrive in any profession however, there will come a time when consumers will have their field day especially, when those who are supposed to be the gatekeepers of our safety are misleading and lying to the public.
There may not be any laws now but what makes you believe that it will not impact you professionals who choose to do the dishonest things. By conveniently turning a blind eye, what makes you believe that what other people have ungratefully been through will never happen to you?
Too many professionals make up excuses when something unforeseen happens. The laws protect the dishonest.
I am not saying that every professional is dishonest however, the honest professionals are paying for the dishonest ones.
It would be wonderful if distortions, manipulations, misinformation, misrepresentations and deceitful people got caught out. Too many loop holes in the system that encourages the dishonest to get away with murder.
JUSTICE FOR ALL!
Carla says
Dear Heather,
I am so sorry your son had to go through so much, whilst he was on this earth for such a short time.
I am still horrified that we can allow this kind of maltreatment to carry on.
I tried to explain what I am going through in regards to my situation however, David thought it was too long and would deter people from reading my dismal circumstances ~ I fail to agree!
Heather, I believe that those who inflict harm on the vulnerable do not understand compassion or any kind of human warmth.
I am sorry you lost your son, Heather. I am sorry no one listened to you and I am sorry no one believed in you or him.
When hope is all gone, what did he have to look forward to?
Sadly, nothing has changed.
You get it, I get it and the rest do not get it!
May Olly know that he was not the only soul who endured so much at the hands of those who do not care.
We live in a culture that witnesses wrongdoings but no one has the guts to stand up and say enough is enough!
Lots of love and blessings to you and your family and may you be strong and brave to create positive changes that will make Olly be proud of who you are.
I am sure that many will come around one day, and get it!
Heather says
Carla, your responses are so helpful. You explain the issues so well.
As to letting those who cause so much harm, even deaths, either by deliberate intent, or just by ineptitude, I personally don’t believe they do really get away with it. I think there is a lot of chaos around us in the world of understanding mental health, and I reckon some of us can now turn our experiences to good use by spreading the word about what is actually happening, (due to ignorance at best, and financial greed, at worst), to try to make a difference.
The problem of stigma is the biggest we face. People only have to drop out the little words “oh, didn’t you know they have been treated for mental health problems” to subtly influence the other party. This is because, deep down, people are very frightened of ‘mental illness’ and so they shy away from it. Until it happens to them or someone close to them, but even then, they keep it quiet. I’m afraid democracy doesn’t come into it, it’s just pure blatant ignorant fear- fuelled bias.
I think you have it right when you mention Karma and what goes around, comes around. In the end, the dishonest person always pays, but maybe not in this life. Some people are not very advanced in their cognisance of what makes happiness, and I guess they are in for a long learning process. It’s very difficult not to get eaten up inside with negative fury about the awful wrongs that have been done, but that can make you ill. Better to be pro-active on a Blog like this and say what you feel, so others understand. What we are all doing is showing our solidarity and determination to change things.
You rightly ask, “when all hope was gone, what did Olly have to look forward to?” Well, nothing he could see in this world, because he’d lost all hope of recovery, pushed along by the psychiatrist who told him his illness was all his own fault and that he was sure he would kill himself. (!). But Olly always believed that life went on, or at least, he used to say he sure hoped it did. He knew we believed that. So like you say, he’s free of pain now and, knowing what a decent fellow he was, caring at all times, I’ve no doubt at all that he’ll be trying to help in any way he can. What happened to him was horrendous, and it’s happening to other gentle people like him every day. I guess we just have to keep trying to raise awareness, and be there for each other. And never give up.
Brian Steere says
There are systemic errors that perpetuate and protect themselves from being corrected in society. I see there are the same core patterns in the make up of our consciousness.
Inner conflicts seeking being ‘escaped’ and mitigated by displacement to external scenarios of projection and dissociation.
In this sense we are all mentally ill at such a level as to generate collective agreements as to reality that operate the protection and persistence of identities of power over – often operating through masks that hide the true intent – or power to hide or hide from.
The nature of inner conflict is that it reflects back but is not linked or associated with its result – not least because a major factor in such identity is that it runs in denial of the conflicted self it is called forth and grown to mask or deny to awareness. This ‘system’ is guilt and fear driven and yet perpetuates guilt and fear in forms that seem to relieve one of any real power of choice excepting the power and protection of external agencies that manage the conflict in terms that by nature only seeks such ’causes’ as can operate the intent to deny and suppress, cover over and eradicate or struggle with.
Because responsibility has been largely usurped as a meaning by blame – it is difficult to address a scenario where mistaken identity fears and feels guilt for an incapacity that then receives blame or stigma, rejection, invalidation and exclusion. In fact the belief that something is WRONG with you is the foundational but masked framework of self-definition that usurps our true nature – and distorts its inherent movement for healing or reintegration.
I don’t write here persuade or convince anyone of anything – but anyone who is already convinced that there needs to be a deeper consideration of cause than various external correspondences that are give cause or co-factored as cause – may find it worthy as a means of reflection and resonance as to their own awakening responsibility for their own well-being at the level they are able to accept and live from. I use the term responsibility for what no-one else can do for you that you can do for yourself – and also for those responsibilities we may take on that are NOT ours but which crush us or wear us down and hollow us out.
The scenario with psycho-active drugs operating destructively is one thread of very many in a world whose insanity is rising up to crack its narrative control.
The recognition and acceptance of identifying in an insane thought system is the dawning of a true Sanity. This is where a self-responsibility can grow and share.
Creating the conditions in which such recognition naturally rises to acceptance is the opposite of the blame culture that operates as ‘war on [symptoms]’ – but if the fear is too great the temporary reducing of symptoms can create the opportunity to grow a clearer focus with a supported network where there is one.
But as we all know, we can want to use any means of delaying and masking as an end in itself rather than as a means to restore an awareness of grounded integrity from which to live and grow it. And as many are becoming aware, there are networks or cartels of powerful interests operating the incitement and induction of fear as a manipulative leverage for control of market share – but more insidiously, mind-share – which is not about money but power.
So I appreciate any willingness to grow and share a sanity of being amidst the otherwise pervasive defaults of captured minds that ‘know not what they do’ because if anyone knows that the mask is not who we truly are, they are no longer deceived to seek validation in power over others or over Life. In this sense they are insane even if in societal terms they operate criminally and need to meet the consequence of law so as to encourage their own rehabilitation.
Perhaps as I quoted Jesus I will end with another; “Resist ye not evil”. This is (intentionally) misunderstood to mean passivity or martyrdom – but I understand the recognition that to fight it is to reinforce and feed it. Self-righteousness claims a narrative identity with hidden hate in its foundation. Call for what it is – yes – give true witness on behalf of integrity for everyone involved – yes. What we resist, persists – but now in fragmented and displaced forms. Cut off one head and several more grow. Look to the root. We don’t need a makeover – we need a true foundation instead of a world of competing strategies of narrative self-preservation – for who has not invested in a lie they wanted to be true? But not all have recognized the cost – especially when ‘outsourcing the effects’ onto others.
Carla says
I believe that in the near future, there will be a remedy to this problem.
In an ideal world, a sample of an individuals blood would be taken to see if a particular medicine is compatible with a persons biochemistry.
I am still convinced that random flawed batches are being created.
By having a procedure like the above mentioned, put in place, any ambiguity or foul play could be completely eliminated.
If some medicines are creating more problems than what they are worth, a ‘safety mechanism’ like this could save many lives.
As for mixing medicines, clinicians should not need to rely on technology to understand the impact or the RXISKS that it has on patients.
Eventually, a cocktail of medicines leads to the ‘deer having been caught with the headlights’ because many failed to acknowledge what is to come…………..
Technology, using the above mentioned may perhaps be a way to eliminate unforseen RXISKS, in the near future.
The technology is out there, but are we ready for that change?
Carla says
The ‘guesswork’ would be eliminated without putting the patients through unnecessary RXISKS.
If technology like this is at the disposal of clinicians and patients fingertips, imagine the endless possibilities of just how we can prevent or eliminate people from getting sick. Everyone is most likely thinking:
‘Yes, Carla is onto something that could shake up the health system like we have never seen before!’
Come on scientists, this is an opportunity for all you guys to do something good for all those who have been impacted by ‘bad medicine’.
It could tell us if any medicine, food or water is contaminated before we put something that is harmful into our bodies.
The endless possibilities of how we revolutionize technology so that we do not have to be at the mercy of ‘what if’, could be the breakthrough we have all been waiting for.
All the negative problems of the past, could be changed through SMART technology that takes all the ‘guesswork’ out of everything.
Heather says
Carla, this would be ground breaking. I think they can already do such a blood test for prescribing antibiotics. So why not for psychotropic drugs. Katinka Newman mentions the CYT polymorphic saliva test in her book ‘ The Pill that Steals Lives’ which can show if you will react badly to certain drugs. And also there seems to be the likelihood that this intolerance runs in families
I’ve always wondered whether an individual’s sensitivity as a person in their character makes it more likely they will be sensitive to medication. If hormones affect one’s level of sensitivity, couldn’t drugs which affect the chemical message bearing in the body, vary in their effects. Just comparing the group of 8 young people who died after taking RoAccutane/isotretinoin, the ones we are closely involved with – I think it’s fair to say that they were all sensitive, clever, empathic young people, of very high intelligence. They were able, not nervous or indecisive, and several had insight into how the drug was eventually affecting them, and did all they could to stem the damage. We’ve known others who seemed to tolerate the drug much better, but they were all outwardly ‘tougher’ people.
I think hormones are very important in the understanding of the effects of all drugs. When balanced naturally, you feel fine. But that is a fine balance and it doesn’t take much to disrupt it. We are hearing a lot in the media now about new drugs coming on stream to lower cortisol in dementia patients. When certain drugs are given which make the body think it has too much of a particular hormone, I read in some research by Dr Katharina Dalton that the adrenals start producing excess amounts of cortisol to fill the gap. When one is anxious, one can feel the surging cortisol. It would be interesting to know if much other research has been done on this?
carla says
I was watching Dr Oz, a couple of nights ago on TV and he went to mention that 1 in 5 American women are on SSRIs ~ this is a real worry!
He also mentioned that your local GP should not be prescribing them to patients.
He mentioned that a mental health practitioner should have the final say in prescribing.
Interesting to note that he also mentioned that other safer alternatives should be explored before a prescription is handed out. I believe the message is starting to get loud and clear in the wider community.
He also mentioned that SSRIs are being prescribed for all the wrong reasons. I People should question before they ingest.
It is humbling to hear a medical professional state that there are negative side effects associated with these medicines.
It is also interesting to note that it can be very fatal when mixed with other medications, vaccines, alcohol and radiation. Is there enough research to determine if these medicines are safe to use when having x-rays?
I believe that those who have been negatively impacted by one tablet will ultimately have their final say in the end.
Random flawed batches will become a thing of the past once modern technology is put in place to eliminate all the unforeseen potential rxisks.
I once read a story somewhere, that another lady ingested just one Valium and her life was ruined after one fatal pill.
If you are out there reading this please get in touch with David Healy because I know that my experience, together with my husbands, is not an isolated case.
It would mean a lot to me if you and I challenged the pharmaceutical company and make the company accountable for the damages induced to our good health .
carla says
Dear Regulators,
Safety should come before dollar signs.
Too many people have been maimed and died by these medicines.
Consumers have a right to know that what they are taking are safe.
If RXISKS are involved, please divulge all the intellectual information, so that consumers can make better informed decisions.
Leaving things to chance seems incredibly dangerous/negligent to me.
Too many people have paid a high price for leaving things to chance.
Don’t you think that it is about time that our voices be heard?
Regards, Carla.
DWR says
Main problem re safety for us is that after a death which follows use of prescribed medications, coroners can only report simple verdicts, so, apart from private websites, we can’t see officially how many are dying with a history of use of these drugs.
If we could get the word ‘Prescripticide’ adopted and into the Oxford dictionary, maybe then coroners could use it as an option. After our son’s suicide we were allowed to speak to the court about his use of prescribed medication but the coroner was not able to report it back under Section 43 to Government. Which means that these figures are still not being officially collected. If they were, at least it would be reported in the Inquest Reports in local and national newspapers and give us another tool for raising public awareness.
A further problem is that if someone had died and has been on several different medications during the journey of their illness, it’s going to be difficult for the lay individual to prove which one caused the damage, enough to satisfy a court. So at least the term ‘Prescripticide’ would offer the coroner another category for the reason for the death without being sued by one particular drug company for unfairly singling them out, at that precise moment. But it could precipitate further investigations following the Inquest.
Thus, for so many of us whose young died we feel certain because of prescribed medications, the hateful word ‘suicide’ need not be used.
If people agree that this would be useful, anyone know how to approach the Body that adopt new words? They put in several Roald Dahlisms so why not this?
annie says
Prescripticidisms..
http://prescripticide.com/
http://prescripticide.com/epidemic/
One example is the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant Paxil, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). In 2001, GSK claimed that Paxil was safe and effective for children and adolescents. In 2015, a group of researchers from four different countries examined all of the clinical trial data from the original Study 329, much of which was hidden from government regulators, and published Restoring Study 329 which concluded that Paxil was not effective or safe for young people. In fact, those in the Paxil research group in the original Study 329 were 11 times more likely to experience suicidal ideation than those in the placebo group.
http://prescripticide.com/prevention/
To prevent prescripticide, it is important for you to be aware of the possible side effects of your medication.
RxISK.org – RxISK.org is a free, independent website for getting information on the most common and severe side effects of any prescription drug, finding out if there might be some problems with how your medications interact with each other, and for reporting adverse drug reactions.
Paxil prescripticide
https://rxisk.org/three-weeks-to-prescripticide/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prescripticide
Origin of word
Prescripticide was coined on November 30, 2015 by David Carmichael
The word David came up with was “prescripticide”.
How does a word get into a Merriam-Webster dictionary?
This is one of the questions Merriam-Webster editors are most often asked.
The answer is simple: usage.
Tracking
Word Usage
http://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq-words-into-dictionary
Oxford University Press
http://public.oed.com/the-oed-today/contribute-to-the-oed/
http://wonderfuldahl.blogspot.co.uk/p/dahl-dictionary.html
Gobblefunk
A suggestion for doctors:…:)
Carla says
Dear DWR,
Thank you for your input.
There is too much ‘proverbial covering’, excuse the language, when it comes to anyone stating the truth.
Throughout history, coroners have always stated that many who ingest these medicines die of:
– suicide
– prescription overdose
– prescription mixed with alcohol / recreational drugs
– some unknown unexplainable cause
Throughout history, there is a pattern emerging that just seems to be swept under the carpet.
Some celebrities have died ingesting these medicines and it has always been associated with suicide, prescription mixed with other drugs or alcohol or some unexplainable cause.
We have to also start questioning if some celebrities or other people have died ingesting a random flawed batch.
If this is occurring the public have a right to know about this especially if it is pertaining to their safety.
Like I said, you give me one credible lab who will test for anything sinister in a medicine? I have not found one yet because they work hand in hand.
It is not until many people complain and there is a pattern emerging that some action takes place.
The same should apply for these medicines.
If people are dying just taking these medicine alone, we have to question the credibility of these medicines.
A young person does not need to die unnecessarily, ingesting these medicines.
If foul play is involved the ‘gatekeepers’ of our safety need to speak up.
If one individual ingested one flawed pill and it induced a coronary thrombosis, brain aneurysm or some other sinister unexplainable death, would a corner state that it was the pill that induced the untimely death?
I have never heard of any coroners stating that a prescribed medication induced death.
I think it is about time that coroners come out and state the truth.
Someone has to be the first to sound the trumpet.
If we don’t hold drug companies accountable for unscrupulous behaviour who will?
The problem is that coroners are too scared to state the cause of death for fear of litigation.
If anyone does any harm, they should be held accountable.
If the coroner knows that the medicine caused death, I can’t understand why they should have to state otherwise.
The culture has to change, so that coroners are not afraid to state the truth.
People just don’t die of heart attacks, brain aneurysms or some unexplainable death when ingesting these medicines.
The cause has to come from somewhere and yes I will always question the credibility of a medicine especially, if random flawed batches are involved.
Thank you.
Heather says
Carla, I’ve noticed you’ve mentioned ‘flawed batches’ of medicines before in your posts. A friend of ours used to have a good life, her bi- polar symptoms well controlled along with her thyroid problems. I knew her 17 years and she never had any obvious symptoms in all that time. Then the NHS changed her onto a generic version of her old medications, which she was told, would be the nearest thing to what she used to have, as the old ones were no longer available. Her husband said he’d learnt that cheaper sources of these pills were now being made in Pakistan and being bought by the NHS to save money for the budget. My friend became ill on the new meds and has now been very ill for nearly 3 years. Meds have been changed, again and again, several ECT sessions, but no real improvement. Terrible for her and her family.
I’d like to discover whether it is officially known that the NHS is sourcing their generic meds from manufacturers in Asia who make them much cheaper, and if so, what quality and safety checks are being made, and by whom. Is there any information available on this or could a FOI be requested on this?
Carla says
Dear Heather,
Just like you can get flawed batches of everything in life, it can also occur in the manufacturing of medicines.
Sorry to hear about your friend.
When someone ingests something you are not expected to get a life threatening response. It is not normal! It should of never happened!!!
I am not going to keep justifying myself, Heather.
All I know is that something was absolutely off wit the medicine my husband and I ingested. We both suffered from vascular problems – coincidental????? I know that something was flawed with the medicine and no one has helped me with my situation.
There was no duty of care when I got very ill and I was given the ‘run around!’
We can bury mistakes however, we can not deny that random flawed batches occur in the manufacturing process of medicines.
If it was deliberate or intentional, consumers have a right to know about it.
One day, I will get down to the bottom of all this conundrum because this ‘one pill’ has ruined my good health.
What would anyone else do if they were in my situation??????
God, only knows how many other people have been maimed or died by ingesting flawed medicines.
Thank you,
Carla
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