The Dangers Of Antidepressants

Antidepressants, Suicide, Murder and Big Pharma

Could Prozac be a driving force behind suicides and murders? Are the pharmaceutical companies hiding the dangers behind this widely used drug? How can we see this in perspective and more importantly what can we do about it?

Key Facts

1. Back in 1991, the FDA held a hearing to determine if there was a link between Prozac and suicides. The hearing said that there was no link.
2. The horror stories about suicides and violence to others continued to grow. One of the claimed victims was the singer Del Shannon. Partly as a response to this, the FDA issued what they call a black box warning which is the most serious type possible. This states that the drug might induce suicidal thoughts and violence in children and teenagers.
3. The patent for Prozac expired in 2001 and generic variations are now available.
4. Like Valium this is a drug which has almost become an easy solution to today’s problems.
5. There is no doubts that Prozac and related drugs do work.

Looking At It In Context

1. This is not the first time that we have had what looks like a mass addiction to a particular drug. Back in the 1960’s Valium became very popular and was referred to as “mothers little helper”. In fact the Rolling Stones wrote a song about it.
2. The history of addiction to tobacco is well documented. The denials by the tobacco companies and their attempts to influence the medical community have become an accepted but regrettable part of our history.
3. Whilst it has been possible, over time, to prove a link between tobacco and cancer it is almost by definition very difficult to prove a link between a drug and the actions of a suicide or murderer.

What Can We Do?

The first step is to ask yourself what are the alternatives to antidepressants. There are alternative treatments. The problem is that many of them require discipline to see through as opposed to just popping a couple of pills each day. We will be looking at alternative treatments to antidepressants our next article.

The next step is to be aware of the potential problems and to make sure that you and your family know about the dangers. Do not start taking an antidepressant without having a support net around you. Reading through the stories about murders and suicides which have been attributed to Prozac it is frightening to see just how quickly the drug is claimed to have caused the violence. It seems as if the drug can cause an initial reaction within just a few days. This is counterintuitive to the belief that it needs a long time to build up in your system so be very careful.

In Conclusion

Treat these antidepressant drugs with great care. Look for alternatives and make sure that you, your family and friends are alert to signs of a bad reaction. We will be examining some of these alternatives in our next article.

Article written by Mike Holly who has been looking at holiday cottages in Carcassonne.