Peter R. Breggin, MD - Antidepressants & Suicide - Congressional Testimony

Peter Breggin testifies before the Veterans' Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives on February 24, 2010.

Dr. Breggin's written testimony to Congress was published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal with references to the studies cited in his spoken testimony:
http://breggin.com/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=...

Further details on Dr. Breggin's testimony before Congress:
http://breggin.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=286

Category:

Education

Tags:

• veterans' affairs committee
• house of representatives
• suicide
• suicidality
• soldiers
• young adults
• army
• navy
• air force
• united states
• military
• antidepressants
• prozac
• zoloft
• paxil
• celexa
• luvox
• lexapro
• eli lilly
• glaxo
• smithkline

[dannyboidj1]

@KettleyMeetings hello i was wondering if these drug damages are infact permanent i was not forced drugs i needed something for OCD, would taking antidepressants cause any damage i know in your case it might of but how do i know for sure if i fall into that category....im not talking about twitching im talking about lowering of IQ and mental inpairments is this just a withdrawl for the meds i am going through?

[jessie68ful]

I am pretty sure that antidepressants can increase suicidal tendencies. Ive read and heard that they lower inhibitions and heighten impulsivity, so that alone is dangerous. I have known of two people who took and attempted to take their own lives whilst on prozac and sertraline. .

[NaiadMiss]

Thank you to Peter Breggin for doing all you do to expose the risks of these often very dangerous drugs. I lost my own mother to suicide from the terrible side effects of Zoloft. Not only was my mother robbed of her life, several years later I am still struggling in my own life to find my happiness that was lost when this tragedy struck my family.

[ecsdwe129]

Peter R. Breggin is my hero! 

[KettleyMeetings]

@PROFILESophiaYates Thanks! I do my best to share my story. I've done it all over the internet in different places where I think my experiences may matter but also I volunteer for CASA which is a program designed to advocate for foster children. From what I've read 52% of all foster kids are medicated. I felt I was in a unique position to understand the child's prespective but also have the articulation to put into words how they feel on it which was something I couldn't do as a kid for myself.

[PROFILESophiaYates]

@KettleyMeetings I am so sorry you had to go through that. I wish you well & hope you spread your story to as many people as you can so they don't do the same thing to their children. This is the thing children do not have a say when their parents & pediatricians place them on these meds. Ive seen to many kids on them all display the same things. We didn't have this when we were kids. Kids today can't even be kids like we could. But this violation is just so preventable. So sad.

[KettleyMeetings]

@PROFILESophiaYates but I'm lucky because I after 26 years of struggle to deal with a "disease" and it's treatment's negative, permenant and miss marketed affects on me I have come to shed those nasty inferiority issues they created. I may not be healed of body and may never be but my soul & sense of individualism, confidence, and joy of living are back in my control. Probably the hardest thing is just REMEMBERING what it's like to not be on drugs before the age of 7. I have so few memories then

[KettleyMeetings]

@PROFILESophiaYates I have first hand knowledge...I know what those kids your daughter speaks of feel like on the inside. I was medicated for the first half of 9 years starting at 7 without my knowledge and then the second half without my consent. I deal with what I believe to be permenant bio-chemical brain damage as a result and some of those symptoms include tics, tourettes, and addiction. I believe I am permenantly incapable of creating enough dopamine in my brain to sustain a stable mood

[PROFILESophiaYates]

@carolkettley He is so right on about the soldiers because they r coming from the largest generation placed on these medications. Most of our kids r medicated now. Mine r not. I would not comply. Our kids r so screwed up because they r so over medicated. My daughter speaks of the kids w ticks in school that r medicated & they behave odd, look tired r under developed and have that raccoon eye look. Loss of appetite in most & can't sleep so they place them on that clonadine. Growth stunted. CRAZY!

[PROFILESophiaYates]

This is frightening I am not surprised though. I have seen over the years so many children in my own childrens school system (I have 2 children 10 yrs apart) Medicated. The school while my sons was in school even was recommending medication to parents. Mty daughters friend @ the age of 12 was placed on Abilify & her weight trippled in a short period of time. She was also on that clonadine. This child was on so much we didn't know who the rl child was. Most of the kids have the patches now