Antidepressant Linked to Cause Autism When Used by Pregnant Women

A recent article from SFgate.com and other news sources indicates that a recent study published in Archives of General Psychiatry, looked at the possible role of maternal antidepressant use before and during pregnancy. Prenatal Children whose mothers take Prozac, Zolft, or similar SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy are twice as likely as other children to have a diagnosis of autism or similar disorder. The study of 298 autistic children in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California system found a two fold increase in risk of the disorder when mothers took antidepressants at some point in the year before giving birth.
The study doesn't prove that the antidepressants actually caused autism, but it shows that genetics is not the sole reason for autism. Environmental issue can cause autism and antidepressants appear to be a common cause. We hope and expect there will be more studies, but we are not surprised of the results.

"The problem with our 'treatment procedures' is that, unlike standard medical practices, we have no way to verify the true cause of the problem or the effectiveness of our 'solutions'. We have gone from hot/cold baths, to lobotomies, to electric shocks, to psychotropic drugs - with no proof of any kind. If other MDs treated a broken arm the way we treat the human brain they would be in court. And so, more and more, that is where we find ourselves." Dr. Thomas Szasz MD, chair of psychiatry, Syracuse University.

Antidepressants Do Not Work to Treat Autism Either

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved any medications to specifically treat autism, but they have approved three SSRIs sertraline (Zoloft), fluoxetine (Prozac) and fluvoxamine (Luvox) to alleviate certain symptoms of the illness. But research indicated that these antidepressants also provide no benefits.
Another study found that the antidepressant citalopram (Celexa) is not any better than a placebo at alleviating autism symptoms. Additionally researchers concluded that studies of other antidepressants revealed the same results.

Besides not working, these antidepressants often cause major side effects, especially in young people. In the citalopram study, one child participant developed severe seizures from taking the drug. Even after being taken off it, the child continued to have seizures. Other children taking it had a hard time sleeping and concentrating. Hard time concentrating is a symptom of autism, so the study shows the so called alleviate is causing the problem.

It must be devasting for a mother to have an autistic child, but what is worse is the potential prescription of an antidepressant is actually causing the life long problem for the child. The responsibility lies heavily on the pharmaceutical companies that produced these drugs Eli Lilly(prozac), Pfizer(zolft), Solvay(Luvox), GlaxoSmithkline(Paxil), Forest Labs(Celexa). There are class action lawsuit currently by baumhedlundlaw.com, rxbirthdefects.com and others

Psychiatry and BigPharma The Two Headed Failed Monster

Unfortunately, too many people use psychiatry, yet psychiatry has destroyed virtually everything it claims to attempt to cure. Psychiatry is responsible for the revolving door of non-rehabilitated prisoners worldwide, also just listen to BigPharma’s ads “we don’t know what causes depression, but we think this antidepressant can help” That should tell you everything about psychiatry and BigPharma that you need to know. Psychiatry today specializes in prescribing psychotropic drugs, and their past history involves the use of lobotomies, electro-shock treatment and strait jackets. Psychiatry has quite a failed and grotesque history. Psychiatrists claim over 1 billion of the humans are mentally ill. If you smoke too much your ill, feel down your ill, too thin your ill. Their plan is to drug everyone, without any evidence to back up any of their claims. They even admit they don’t know the causes of their claimed illness, and they don’t know the solutions. It’s all billing and money with no results. Go to http://www.cchr.org/museum.html%23/museum/intro#/museum/intro for more details on psychiatry fraud.

Side Effects of Antidepressants
Antidepressants can cause several surprising side effects, such as restlessness, anxiety, sexual dysfunction, feeling of grief, anxiety, guilt, despair, sense of numbness or hollowness, loss of interest and pleasure in activities, dullness, decreased energy, difficulty concentrating, disrupted sleep, overeating, weight gain, loss of appetite and weight loss.
Outside of the short-term side effects, antidepressants can alter the biochemistry of the brain, and can be very difficult to discontinue. Many patients have attempted to get off their antidepressants but experienced neurological symptoms like tics, tingling, and “zapping” sensations in their brains every time they tried tapering off the drugs.

Long term Effects of Antidepressants
Studies have shown long term effects of SSRI’s are weight gain, and sexual dysfunction, lethargy and fatigue. Reports also show that these antidepressants may induce induced Tardive Dyskinesia/Dystonia (severe body movement disorder, mostly permanent), Parkinsonism (a sign of future Parkinson's disease) and Akathisia (a neurological driven severe mania/agitation that can lead to suicide attempts, and self-harm.

A Snapshot of the Malfunction Nature of Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology

There was a recent article in the New York Times Magazine in the April 2010 issue written by Daniel Carlat that tells a very revealing story regarding psychiatry and psychopharmacology. He appears to have an epiphany on psychiatry and psychotherapy. We would like to give him credit for realizing where psychiatry has been going, in addition, Daniel Carlat’s article is a precursor to his book “Unhinged: the Trouble With Psychiatry,” He explains how today’s psychiatry works, or in our view doesn’t.
Patients are evaluated based on the DSM-IV, psychiatry’s diagnostic manual which breaks down a patient’s disorder in several categories such as mood, anxiety, and several eating disorders, anxiety nightmares or flashbacks etc. Based on the patient’s answers to the questions a drug’s is then prescribed. This is based on Leon Eisenberg (a pioneer of psychopharmacology) as Carlat notes that in the beginning of the past century psychiatry was brainless, or mainly interested in psychoanalysis, while the second half of the 20th century psychiatry has been mindless or infatuated with pills. This has been the emphasis of the new generation of psychiatrists.
Carlat also notes what we suspected that insurance companies have pushed for medication visits, so the psychiatrist’s simply sees the patient for fifteen minutes to fill out a prescription. Longer hourly therapies are discouraged as it is less profitable for the insurance carrier. With this method the psychiatrist actually never knows his patient, and if any therapy is warranted then a lower ranking psychologist is referred. The end result is that the profession simply diagnoses disorders and medicates the patient.
He concludes in his article that psychopharmacology is doing damage to psychiatry, and we will add that it is damaging the patient. We encourage you to take a look at the article and potentially his book “Unhinged: the Trouble With Psychiatry,” which will be published in May 2010.