October 5, 2004
We seem to focus more on children's smoking and second hand smoke. They have banned smoking ads and added drug ads. What message are we telling kids?? That it's OK to take drugs for self esteem and on the other hand we are telling them to say no to drugs. Double standards are OK as long as it benefits our bureaucrats.
On Dr. Phil there was a father who refused to drug his son and the school reported him and they had his son removed and sent to live with his maternal grandparents. Never mind that the 8 year old had experienced divorce, lived with his mother, his mother died of lukemia and then the kid went to live with his father and also had to change schools. Sure the kid had problems, GEE I wonder why?? Shouldn't we address the problem instead of covering it up with drugs that can kill our kids.
Why not try to approach the problem by creative teaching, visual signs to remind children of the task at hand, constant reinforcement, adding rules and structure to the daily routine, special education, and proper diet. Children need the correct nurturing with the right food, shelter and affection to do well.
Modern diets are probably responsible for most learning and behavioral problems in children, some mental illness, most depressions, most dementias and some neurological disease of unknown origin. Nutrition influences brain function in a variety of ways.
I am convinced that the food intake of a person has a determining effect on the way their brain functions, but psychiatrists are hostile to this insight. A reasonable approach, is to examine and modify a patient’s diet, improve nutrition and remove toxic chemicals in the air before prescribing drugs, but psychiatrists rarely take this approach. The use of psychotropic drug use would appear to be somewhat rational and regulated, but is largely an improvisatory and amateurish exercise rather than a coherent application of biological knowledge. You could argue that the use of drugs to modify brain function has some benefits for some patients, but prescription drug use can cause dysphoria, mental and neurological disorders. You could easily argue that the negative effects of psychotropic drugs exceed benefits.
Too many patients receive prescriptions for multiple psychotropic drugs, a scrambled eggs kind of psychopharmacology. More than one drug at a time will usually cause brain function to deteriorate. Several drugs at once confuse the mind, may be dangerous and may cause death by accident or suicide.
Biologists, on the other hand, think in terms of populations, food supply, seasons, weather, and social-behaviors, and do field studies which reveal patterns of adaptation to specific environments. The biologist sees every living creature connected to and interacting with his/her environment. Anyone who has worked with animals or fish in closed environments knows how critical environmental conditions and diet are in determining both the behavior and their physical status. When a fish in an aquarium displays psychotic behavior, you do not call a fish psychiatrist; you check the oxygen concentration, temperature, and pH of the water. You have to clean the tank and change the fish diet.
We all live in and interact with home and work environments which determine our biological fate. In industrialized countries, the micro-environment of each individual is controlled by human constructions and is generally polluted by toxic substances. Food and ingested liquids are selected by socioeconomic and cultural factors more than biological factors. Food selection is part of more complex behavioral patterns which become enduring attributes of individuals. Most of us cling to our habits, functional or not, as evidence of our individuality. Common abnormal eating behaviors include food cravings, compulsive-eating, compulsive drinking, binge-eating, addictions, aversions, and anorexia.
The problems of adverse brain effects of nutrient deficiencies, the toxic effect of molecules derived from food, and the immunogenic potential of food proteins and peptides are under-recognized. There are a host of clues that link the food supply to neurological diseases. I would suggest that a person suffering early brain-dysfunction symptoms would be wise to pursue vigorous, thorough diet revision at the earliest opportunity. Because some brain dysfunction compromises judgment learning and motivation, family members, friends and professional advisors often have to provide the right direction and support. Insurance companies will be more likely to cover the cost of a pill, but may hesitate to cover long-term therapy.
We live in a society routinely and merrily drugging its children, and successfully dampening creativity, courage, confidence and all the messy behaviors associated with real learning.
These drugs will not correct aberrant behavior, improve cognition or memory but almost inevitably will disable and further damage an already compromised brain.
The deep question is why are humans so attracted to changing the way their brain works?
Wouldn't it be wise to invest in our children, rather than the pharma?? How much more would a good diet cost or are we too busy to take the time to have home cooked family meals??
This is an article from my hair dresser:
Where is Berstein when you need him? lol How long will Americans put politics above the lives of their children? I am a registered republican. I am a dad and an American first. President Bush is WRONG to create The New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. He probably knows this by now but because of republican PROPAGANDA on Kerry about flip flopping he cannot change his mind. See the trap. The truth is only a bigot , insane or extremely ignorant person will NOT change his mind when acquiring new more factual information. I myself must wear the hat of a bigot and will until the truth of psychiatric treason is common knowledge. I will then toss it aside and become the person of goodwill which is my true nature.
Tony
August 19, 2004
If you have young children or grandchildren, the information I'm going to share should scare you. It should make you angry. But above all it should make you want to stand up and protect them from what I consider a very dangerous threat: mandatory psychiatric screening of each and every school-aged child.
That's right. The plans are in motion to screen every schoolchild for ADHD, depression, social anxiety disorder, and behavior problems. In fact, it's already in effect in Illinois, Texas, and New Jersey.
A Disturbing Trend in Our Schools In April 2002, President Bush created the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Its objective was to enhance mental health services to those in need. But it has taken a diabolical twist. The commission has concluded that there is a need to search for mental disorders, especially in children, and to do this, they plan mandatory mental health screening for everyone,
starting with preschoolers.
According to the Commission's 2003 report, "Quality screening and early intervention should occur in readily accessible, low-stigma settings, such as primary health care facilities and schools."
It is irrational to think that you need to screen 52 million schoolchildren to find those who need help. The ones who really need help are obvious.
But it gets worse. The report goes on to say, "...the extent, severity, and far-reaching consequences make it imperative that our Nation adopt a comprehensive, systemic approach to improving the mental health status of children." That means drugging them!
52 Million Potential Customers The New Freedom Commission's proposed treatment programs are based on the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP). TMAP, which was first used in Texas in 1996 and has since expanded to other states, is a set of very specific medication recommendations, virtually all of them the newest, most expensive, psychotropic drugs available.
It doesn't take a genius to see that this sinister scheme has been masterminded by the pharmaceutical companies, who stand to gain billions of dollars by pushing expensive drugs on our children.
According to Allen Jones, an inspector who worked in the Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector General, many of these companies contribute large sums of money to political parties and to people in key decision-making roles. When he blew the whistle on this, he was promptly sacked.
Trolling for Patients If you want to see just how biased and ridiculous these screening procedures
are, visit some of the drug companies' websites and look at their questionnaires. Whether they are trying to weed out depression, social anxiety disorder, ADHD, or other psychological maladies, the types of
questions they ask are equally absurd.
I took one test, entitled the Zung Assessment Tool, at the Prozac website. You respond to 20 phrases with one of the following: not often, sometimes, often, or all the time. Phrases include, "I feel downhearted, blue, and sad." "I have trouble sleeping through the night." "I eat as much as I used
to." "I have trouble with constipation." "My mind is as clear as it used to be." "I am more irritable than usual." "I find it easy to make decisions." (As you see, some of these questions are confusing, if not irrational.)
I selected "sometimes" for every phrase, as a normal, healthy person would. My score was 50, and I was advised to show this test to my doctor and "ask him or her to evaluate you for depression."
Folks, sometimes feeling irritable, unable to sleep, etc., are hardly indicative of a serious mental malfunction. Feeling out of sorts from time to time is a normal part of being human. Yet according to this test, I may be a candidate for an antidepressant.
Drugging of Children Is Evil Widespread psychiatric screening of our children isn't only unnecessary,
it's evil.
Children are not miniature adults. Childhood is filled with dreams, vivid imagination, and rollercoaster rides of emotion that we as grownups only vaguely recall. The totality of these experiences is essential in order for children to become fully developed adults.
Psychotropic drugs prevent children from truly experiencing childhood. The drugged child is not real. He doesn't grow into and out of various life stages, whether pleasant or unpleasant. Psychiatric drugs prevent normal development.
The pharmaceutical drug lords, lusting for the billions of dollars that massive psychiatric screening and treatment will add to their coffers, will destroy the essence of your child.
Think back on your childhood. Remember your experiences. Now ask yourself, would you be better off today if five or six years of your childhood had been spent in a drugged-out state?
In my opinion, psychotropic drugs are even worse than some illegal ones. Children are drugged simply because some harebrained test designed by a pharmaceutical company says they should be drugged. Neither the child nor the parent has any say at all in the matter.
What Can You Do? Here's what you can do about it. First of all, refuse to sign those consent
forms when they come home from your child's school - if they can't test them, they can't drug them. Next, take a moment to write your congressional representatives and voice your concerns.
Also, email Laura Bush at firstlady@whitehouse.gov. Ask her how she'd like to have her daughters screened and drugged without her or their consent. We need to get mothers involved.
Finally, don't just say no to drugs. Say no to psychiatric screening