Dangerous Trend: Antidepressant Use In Children Soaring

by CCHR Florida | Apr 24, 2016

The number of children prescribed antidepressants is on a steep upward trend.
In 2004 there was a fall in the use of these drugs after warnings of suicidal risk. But between 2005 and 2012, the increase shot up by more than fifty percent in the UK alone. The same study showed substantial rises worldwide; in the US there was a 26% increase, and there has been no indication of a slowdown in prescribing these drugs to kids in the ensuing four years.
The World Health Organization’s Director of Mental Health, Dr. Shekhar Saxena, is troubled by the trend. He states, “Anti-depressant use amongst young people is and has been a matter of concern because of two reasons. One, are more people being prescribed anti-depressants without sufficient reason? And second, can anti-depressants do any major harm?”
In answer to Dr. Saxena’s first question; unfortunately, the “sufficient reason” is left up to the prescribing psychiatrist or MD based on ailments listed alphabetically in a heavy tome known as the DSM. This “Bible” of the psychiatric profession is loaded with disorders voted into reality by nothing but a show of hands.
One does not have to search far and wide to answer Dr. Saxena’s second question, “Can anti-depressants do any major harm?”
Prozac, the only antidepressant approved by the FDA in treating children, has these common side effects, none of which most people would care to see their children suffer through:

Anxious
Chronic trouble sleeping
Drowsiness
Dry Mouth
Excessive sweating
Feeling like throwing up
Head pain
Indigestion
Involuntary Quivering
Loss of Appetite
Nervousness
Rash
Sinus Irritation
Throat Irritation
Yawning

Here are some less common, but quite severe side effects that could affect a grade school child on Prozac:

Chills
Hives
Trouble Breathing
Abnormal Dreams
Abnormal Heart Rhythm
Chest Pain
Confused
Cough
Excessive Thirst
Fast Heartbeat
Feeling Restless
Fever
Flu-Like Symptoms
Frequent Urination
Gas
Hair Loss
Heart Throbbing or Pounding
Hyperactive Behavior
Incomplete or Infrequent Bowel Movements
Itching
Joint Pain
Problems with Eyesight
Ringing in the Ears
Stomach Cramps
Taste Problems
Weight Loss
Widening of Blood Vessels

The rare, but obviously still occurring side effects include:

Abnormal liver function
Bleeding of the stomach, intestine or uterus
Spasm of the larynx
Giant Hives
Suicidal thoughts
Hepatitis
Life-threatening allergic reaction
Mild degree of mania
Very rapid heartbeat
Teeth grinding
Loss of memory
Loss of one’s own sense of reality or identity
Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (characterized by fever, muscular rigidity, altered mental status, and autonomic dysfunction; this would include a dysfunction of breathing, heartbeat and digestion)