Matt Agorist | The Free Thought Project

Suicide, birth defects, heart problems, hostility, violence, aggression, hallucinations, self-harm, delusional thinking, homicidal ideation, and death are just a few of the side effects caused by psychiatric medication.

There have been 150 studies in seventeen countries on antidepressant-induced side effects. There have been 134 drug regulatory agency warnings from eleven countries and the EU warning about the dangerous side effects of antidepressants.

Despite this deadly laundry list of potential reactions to these medications, the use of antidepressants and antipsychotics has skyrocketed by 400% since 1988. 

Currently, 11 percent of all Americans 12 years of age and over take antidepressant medication, this is a higher rate than all other countries in the world.

While the skyrocketing use of psychiatric drugs in adults is certainly worrisome, the exponential increase of use in children is downright scary.

The following information is the most accurate and documented data available on psychiatric drug usage in the United States.

The information is from IMS Health, a company that provides information, services and technology for the healthcare industry.

It is the largest vendor of U.S. physician prescribing data. The following data was taken from IMS Health Vector One National database Year 2013, Extracted April 2014.

The numbers are startling.

Article continues below these stats.

Drug Class:            Age Group:          Number of
                                                                   People:

All Psychiatric       0-5 Years               1,080,168
Drugs

Breakdown:
0-1 Years                274,804
2-3 Years                370,778
4-5 Years                500,948

6-12 Years             4,130,340
13-17 Years           3,617,593

Grand Total           0-17 Years               8,389,034 kids on psychiatric drugs

---

ADHD Drugs          0-5 Years                188,899

Breakdown:
0-1 Years                1,422
2-3 Years                10,413
4-5 Years                181,023

6-12 Years             2,723,126
13-17 Years           1,775,896

Grand Total           0-17 Years               4,404,360 kids on ADHD Drugs

---

Antidepressants  0-5 Years                 110,516

Breakdown:
0-1 Years               26,406
2-3 Years               46,102
4-5 Years               45,822

6-12 Years            686,950
13-17 Years          1,444,422

Grand Total          0-17 Years               2,165,279 kids on antidepressants

---

Antipsychotics     0-5 Years                 27,343

Breakdown:
0-1 Years                654
2-3 Years                3,760
4-5 Years                24,363

6-12 Years             359,882
13-17 Years           490,272

Grand Total           0-17 Years               830,836 kids on antipsychotics

---

Anti-anxiety           0-5 Years                   727,304

Breakdown:
0-1 Years                  227,132
2-3 Years                  282,759
4-5 Years                  247,754

6-12 Years               790,149
3-17 Years             650,273

Grand Total             0-17 Years               2,132,625 kids on anti-anxiety drugs

According to Dr. Allen Frances, author of Saving Normal, one of the reasons we are seeing such a steep incline in American children being prescribed these drugs is that primary care physicians, not psychiatrists, are doling our these drugs like candy. According to Dr. Frances, the primary care doctor is not nearly as qualified to prescribe these drugs, and most of them are doing so based on the information given to them by entirely unqualified pharmaceutical sales reps.

Even more disturbing than the growing trend in psychiatric drug use is the fact that the state will remove children from their parents for refusing to give these dangerous and untested drugs to their kids.

Last week, a Detroit mother, Maryanne Godboldo, was the subject of her 5th appeal by the prosecutor’s office for the ‘crime’ of preventing her child from being forced to take a psychiatric medicine.

Godboldo made international headlines in 2011 when she refused to administer a dangerous psychiatric drug to her daughter, resulting in Child Protective Services (CPS) assaulting her civil and human rights to the extent that many could not believe this could occur in America. The truth is any parent could be targeted by the mental health system via CPS and lose their rights as a parent, as reported by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR).

On February 17, 2010, Maryanne Godboldo was told to put her daughter Ariana on the antipsychotic drug Risperdal.

There have been 39 studies in eight countries on Risperdal highlighting the horrid side effects of this drug. (United States, Denmark, United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and Italy). These include the following (note that some studies cite more than one side effect, so the list below may not be equal to the total number of studies):

8 studies on Risperdal causing death or increased risk of death
7 studies on Risperdal causing weight gain
4 studies on Risperdal causing heart problems
3 studies on Risperdal causing diabetes
3 studies on Risperdal causing blood disorders
2 studies on Risperdal causing sleep problems
2 studies on Risperdal causing stroke
2 studies on Risperdal showing lack of efficacy
2 studies on Risperdal causing Parkinson’s Disease
1 study on Risperdal causing cognitive decline
1 study on Risperdal causing sexual dysfunction
1 study on Risperdal causing Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (a life-threatening neurological disorder)
1 study on Risperdal causing violence

After watching her daughter experience some of these severe side effects from the drug, she consulted another doctor and they slowly weaned her off of it.

When social services found out that Maryanne had taken her daughter off the drug, they took legal and physical action to force her hand. On March 24, 2011, social services, accompanied by the Detroit Police SWAT team and an illegal order, forcibly entered Maryanne’s home to remove Ariana, citing Maryanne’s refusal to give her Risperdal.

CCHR explains what happened next.

• A 10-hour standoff ensued between Maryanne and the Detroit Police’s “Special Response Team.”

• Maryanne made phone calls to the leaders of the Detroit community to help her in the effort to save her child.

• On March 25, 2011, in the early morning hours, Maryanne agreed to turn over her daughter only after the police and CPS assured her that Ariana would be placed in the custody of Maryanne’s sister, Penny Godboldo and would NOT be drugged. This was the agreement between Maryanne, the police and CPS.

• Social services lied to Maryanne: They placed Ariana at the Hawthorn Center, a state-run juvenile psychiatric facility.

•  At Hawthorn, psychiatrist George Mellos prescribed Ariana a powerful antipsychotic drug despite the fact he did not have her medical records nor the consent of her mother, Maryanne.

It took Maryanne several days to locate her daughter and find out where she’d been taken. When they finally found her, Ariana was so doped up on Risperdal that she was drooling and despondent.

Days later, Maryanne was arrested and charged with 8 felony counts for trying to protect her daughter from being kidnapped.

Eventually, the charges would all be dropped and Maryanna and Ariana would be reunited again.

Watch the video below: