- “Broken Brains” and “Beautiful Minds” — Robert Whitaker — When I first interviewed Brandon Banks, in the spring of 2008, while researching Anatomy of an Epidemic, he had recently entered Elizabethtown Community College in Kentucky, with dreams of becoming a journalist. Given his medical history, which included multiple psychiatric hospitalizations, this seemed like a bold dream, and few people in his life thought he would succeed at it. — But today, in this blog, I get to brag a bit about Brandon Banks.
- Psychotropic Medications Linked to Serious Adverse Drug Reactions in Children Why are kids receiving these meds? — MedScape — Yes, indeed, why are children given these meds? Though we need to ask too, why are adults routinely given them for years on end as well. These drugs are dangerous and deadly for everyone. Long-term maintenance use is always problematic. Psychotropic medications are associated with adverse drug reactions (ADRs), many of which are serious, in children younger than 17 years, according to a new database study from Danish researchers. — Results also showed that all but one of the psychotropic-related ADRs for children between the ages of birth and 2 years were serious, including birth defects such as neonatal withdrawal syndrome, ventricular septal defects, and premature labor. — These findings were “probably due to the mothers’ intake of psychotropic medicine, primarily antidepressants and antipsychotics, during pregnancy,” write the study authors. — For the overall patient population, the largest share of reported ADRs came from psychostimulants (42%), followed by antidepressants (31%) and antipsychotics (24.5%). — “The high number of serious ADRs reported for psychotropic medicines in the pediatric population should be a concern for health care professionals and physicians,” the study authors write. To learn more about what has happened to people on these drugs since the advent of aggressively treating mental distress with pharmaceuticals, read Robert Whitaker.