| Addiction and SSRI medications should be a concern |
By: By ANDY ALT, Guest Columnist
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Posted: Friday, July 4, 2008 4:50 pm
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TIME Magazine’s June 16, 2008, cover story by Mark Thompson was a detailed story about U.S. troops being given antidepressant drugs to deal with battlefield stress. A quote from the article (p. 41) states, “The newer drugs have fewer side effects and, unlike earlier drugs, are generally not addictive or toxic, even when taken in large quantities.”
This is false and easily disproved.
Ask current and former patients if they’ve ever had physical withdrawal symptoms after stopping use of an SSRI, or search the Internet for posts and articles written by patients about addiction to SSRIs. I personally have experienced withdrawal symptoms from both Paxil and Effexor. A close relative of mine has experienced withdrawal symptoms from Paxil.
It’s a crime against humanity for pharmaceutical companies and physicians who manufacture and prescribe these drugs to intentionally and knowingly attempt to deceive — by omission or otherwise — their patients regarding the physically addictive properties of these drugs. It’s especially tragic since this crime is perpetrated on one of the most vulnerable demographic of the general population, and a demographic which is one of the least capable of defending themselves — due to the very nature of mental illness — against injustice or malpractice.
Full disclosure:
a) A recent patient information sheet for Effexor (copyright 2006), published by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (manufacturer of Effexor) and given to me by a former psychiatrist does state, “When people suddenly stop using Effexor XR, they can get symptoms from stopping the medicine too fast. Some of these symptoms include:” and there are 24 symptoms listed. You can appreciate how it’s worded — the much more well-known phrase and word avoided are “physical addiction” and “withdrawal.” (The side effects are shown in a different section, and there are only 16 listed.)
b) I was aware of Effexor’s addictive quality before I started taking it, (due to research I did on the Internet) which made the decision an informed one, and a risk I was willing to accept; however, millions of people have been victims of neglect regarding this major component of their treatment.
I don’t advocate abandoning the use of SSRIs, but only treating people with mental illness the same as treating people who are more likely to possess the ability to competently hire a lawyer and sue the pants off a doctor or corporation. I hope the truth about the addictive properties of SSRls will be fully and honestly revealed to the public ASAP. If Wyeth doesn’t come out with it, I suppose TIME might have a story about it once our troops come home and cease use of the drugs.
— Andy Alt is a resident of Northfield. |
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Wyeth isn't the only pharmaceutical company that manufactures addictive antidepressants. That's one correction I'm making. And a clarification: By vulnerable, I didn't mean that the soldiers with the guns and explosives were defenseless, I meant the civilians. Although deployed military are probably in some way defenseless to decide on their own treatment, they still have guns and stuff to blow things up and armor, which makes them less vulnerable and gives them better defense against doctors pelting them with meds. I am, by the way, against leaving soldiers in the battlefield to take meds when they should be sent home on medical. But I'm not in the military, and I don't have any relatives in the military, so I'll leave that for others to hash out. I told Senators Coleman and Klobuchar and Rep Kline what I think of it, so we'll see how nothing happens for a long time.