Mental Derangement II

Why do we continue to take a Band-Aid approach to mental illness?

After WWII, a Philadelphia drug wholesaler called Smith, Kline and French decided that manufacturing drugs was more profitable than distributing them. Their first profit bonaza was the production of amphetamines that stimulated brain acitivity and kept the the person alert way beyond the normal sleep cycle. The drug was named Dexedrine. It worked and I had taken one pill in my life to study for college exams. Never again! The whole story can be accessed at the following NIH site:

America’s First Amphetamine Epidemic 1929–1971 - PMC (nih.gov)

What followed was SKF’s Thorazine which was responsible for emptying mental hospitals and putting the mentally ill back on the streets. Another profitable bonaza for SKF and embraced by the government, because it reduced the cost of housing the mentally ill. The following article provides the history of how drug treatment became standard for treating the mentally ill.

The Truth About Deinstitutionalization - The Atlantic

So..the age of uppers and downers arrived in medicine. A classic example of the harm that they can cause is the death of Elvis Presley. Elvis was on a roller coaster ride with performances and had difficulty coming down and resting between gigs. So a downer was prescribed so he could sleep and then when he had difficulty staying on top of his game, he needed an upper to keep him performing. Addiction to the drugs developed and over dosing became the routine to keep him performing. A roller coaster ride that ended in his liver being destroyed by the drugs and causing his untimely death.

Since then, a more profitable class of drugs called SSRI’s have been used to ameliorate brain dysfunction and reduce symptoms of mental dysfunction without any concern what may be the root cause. Pathological, nutritional deficienies or societal issues or combination being the culprit are seldom identified or pursued because the SSRI’s are simple and profitable answer for all involved. Globally, the market is estimated to be about $30 billion and about 5% of the American population is on these drugs with SSRI drugs dominating the category.

The following quote by Dr. Candace Perth, the co-discover of the SSRI pathway which was the impetus for the creation of the multi-billion dollar SSRI class of mind altering drugs is a chilling statement.

"I am alarmed at the monster that John Hopkins neuroscientist, Solomon Snyder and I created when we discovered the simple binding assay for drug receptors 25 years ago."

Please note: North America is the growth capital of SSRI’s. Dr. Peter Breggin, a physician wrote a book in 1994, which warned of the dangers of the mind altering drugs being used. He tried to educate his fellow physicians, but instead was labeled as a non-conformist and was subject to character assassination, the same as what is happening to physicians today that don’t agree with how covid patients are being treated.

Toxic Psychiatry: Why Therapy, Empathy and Love Must Replace the Drugs, Electroshock, and Biochemical Theories of the "New Psychiatry"

by Peter R. Breggin M.D. | Aug 15, 1994

It has been reported that about 95% of the young people involved in school shootings have been prescribed drugs for mental issues. We don’t know if the Ramos man from Uvalde, Texas or the Crimo man who created the mass shooting in Highland Park, Ill, were being treated for mental health issues. We do know that Crimo was investigated for having a dozen assorted knives in 2019 and threatened to kill people. We also know he was nihilistic and rejected normal societal norms. The basic issue is, there is a lack of focus on the root cause of mental derangement. Some can be helped by being treated with nutrient supplementation due to nutrient deficiencies being the culprit. The literature has studies that indicate that low Vitamin D blood value contributes to depression. Unless we start addressing the root causes and figure out how to de-stress the youths on physcotropic drugs, we will continue to go down the wrong path in treatment. The gun is only an instrument of destruction and can be replaced with poison, knives, machettes, axes and cars to name a few. The question is: Do the psychotropic drugs exacerbate the violent outbursts by those afflicted? I believe so.

You can find Mental Derangement I at:

Mental Derangement. - by Thomas A Braun RPh - N2E+ for Life (substack.com)

My thoughts for the day.