Yet another large, robust study from a group of psychiatrists and psychologists showing antidepressants have little or no effect on those with mild, moderate and severe depression. A multi-billion dollar industry built on deception which exposes millions of people to potentially fatal side effects every year.
Our Research
Many of those working in the suicide prevention field claim their policies and practices are evidence based. Examination of the research they use, however, shows the studies on which they rely are up to 30 years old. Many have serious methodological issues. Many have been superceded by more recent studies.
This page provides links to current, relevant research. CASPER gives most weight to independent research which is not funded by pharmaceutical companies. If you have research you think we should include on this page, please contact us.
Effect of Antidepressants Non Existant or Negligible in Mild, Moderate and Severe Depresson.
Over Prescribing of Ritalin and Suicide
Data from NZ drug agency Pharmac showing 106,000 prescriptions for Ritalin for our children in 2010 and data showing that they cause suicide and that this has been systematically covered up.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/news/4622583/Drugs-pouring-into...
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/view_press_release.php?rID=9094
Survey of Psychiatrists Attitudes to Maori
Shocking research published by John Read Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Auckland University. It is hard to imagine a worse strategy for reducing Maori suicide rates than referring Maori to mental health services in which senior clinicians hold the racist views expressed in this research.
Walk a Mile in Our Shoes
Research published in 2010 by the Mental Health Foundation looking at discrimination against those labelled with 'mental illness' found that ""Participants identified derogatory language used to talk about mental illness. They also identified the biomedical model, an imbalance of power, clinician's negative attitudes and limited knowledge base, and mental health service practices as a key source of discrimination."
In her Foreword Tariana Turia says ""It is a concern that participants from nearly all focus groups identified mental health services as the most prominent source of discrimination towards families and whānau. Discrimination included negative behaviours such as staff not providing information, ignoring cultural worldviews, not consulting or including families and whānau, and blaming and/or criticising parents."
Coupled with research also conducted by the Foundation showing that labelling people with psychiatric diagnoses gives rise to suicidality, we think its time we moved completely away from what Finland refers to as the 'sickness model' which clearly does far more harm than good.
World Health Organisation Says Depression Doesn't Cause Suicide
Research published by the WHO in 2009 which gathered data from 108,664 respondents from 21 countries participating in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys found that depression is not linked with planning, attempting or completing suicide. It further found that those making unplanned suicide attempts (frequently the case with youth), stressful life events were more likely than mental disorders to be the key causal factors.
The authors state "A diagnosis of major depression is much less useful in predicting which people with suicide ideation go on to make suicide plans or attempts, and it is nonsignificantly associated with unplanned attempts in both developed and developing countries."
Despite being funded by a number of pharmaceutical companies, the study repeatedly acknowledges that there is to date no evidence of a causal relationship between mental disorders and suicide.
I wonder if this will be enough for them to stop prescribing drugs known to double the risk of suicide as a suicide prevention measure.