In one hundred years, will the treatment of mental illness with a vast array of psychotropic drugs be seen as a success story, or a vast human tragedy?
When I was diagnosed with Bi Polar Disorder in my early twenties, I spent less than thirty minutes in the psychiatrist’s office where I was given a predetermined list of questions to answer. By the time I left, I had a prescription for Lithium in hand that I was told I would be on for the rest of my life.
Psychotropic drugs are dangerous chemical compounds. I know; I used them for many years. That is why they are either illegal or tightly controlled. Nobody really knows how they work, or what the long-term effects are. Suicide is listed among the many “side-effects” they can cause.
In an effort to widen the scope of possible patients, the industry has seen fit to target children. Children as young as two years old are being diagnosed with disorders and given prescriptions for one or more of these drugs. Nobody knows what the use of these chemicals will do to their developing brains over time. But what we do know is this:
-Over 300 million psychiatric drug prescriptions are written every year.
-The pharmaceutical industry brings in $80 Billion each year from the sale of these drugs.
-The top ten psychotropic drugs gross $26.5 Billion, more than double the amount of new money put into circulation each year by the United States Mint.
-Psychiatry today is a $330 Billion dollar a year industry, and has yet to find a single cure.
After being caught up in the Mental Health industry for twenty years, I am a true believer in informed consent. Here is an excellent documentary about topics covered in this post.
