More for your daily reading:
- Hypotheses, Scientific Evidence and On Being Compared to an AIDS Denier — Robert Whitaker, Psychology Today — In today’s Boston Globe (April 14), Dr. Dennis Rosen, a pediatric lung and sleep specialist at Children’s Hospital in Boston, reviews my new book, Anatomy of an Epidemic. He also posted this review on his Psychology Today blog. — I am actually quite grateful for it, even though it’s a negative review. I expected that defenders of the medical faith would be critical of the book, but even so, it helps to stir a conversation that I hope will become a larger one in our society about the long-term effects of psychiatric medications. — As Dr. Rosen notes, the book does raise a hypothesis. Since Prozac’s arrival on the scene in 1987, the number of adults on government disability due to mental illness has tripled, leaping from 1.25 million in 1987 to 4 million today. The number of children receiving a government disability payment due to mental illness has risen from 16,200 in 1987 to 561,569 in 2007. So my hypothesis is this: Could our drug-based paradigm of care, in some unforeseen way, be fueling this epidemic of disabling mental illness?
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- Teen Suicide Risk Similar Among Antidepressants –Increased Teen Suicide Risk Doesn’t Vary Among SSRI Antidepressants. (Yup, they’re all risky! Black Box warning found appropriate — of course there is an increased risk among adults too and that is not included in the black box warning) — Researchers say the finding supports the FDA’s current “black box” warning on all antidepressants detailing the increased risk of suicide attempts and suicides in children and teens who start to take the drugs. A “black box” warning is the FDA’s most severe warning label. — Previous studies have shown that children and teenagers who begin to use SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) antidepressants may have an increase in suicidal thoughts and behaviors, but researchers say this is the first study to compare the child and teen suicide risk among different individual SSRI antidepressants.
- Classroom Creativity-– The Frontal Cortex — Everybody wants a creative child – in theory. The reality of creativity, however, is a little more complicated, as creative thoughts tend to emerge when we’re distracted, daydreaming, disinhibited and not following the rules. In other words, the most imaginative kids are often the trouble-makers.