Psychiatric drug prescriptions for infants age 2 and younger have been rising at an alarming rate.
The New York Times recently reported statistics obtained from the prescription data company IMS Health, the world’s leading health information and analytics company.
- 20,000 prescriptions for Risperdal, Seroquel and other antipsychotics in 2014 – up from 13,000 the year before.
- 83,000 prescriptions for the anti-depressant Prozac – a 23% increase from the year before.
Can anyone determine that an infant 2 years old or less has depression or is a dangerous psychotic in the making?
Of course not.
There are no medical tests to show that older children, teens or adults have the mental health conditions that psychiatrists have described and cataloged in their DSM manuals over the years. And there are no such medical tests for infants and toddlers.
Yet supported by governments and legislation, psychiatrists manage the pretense of being authorities in the field of mental health without having to medically prove anything or cure anyone.
The NY Times article cites a story of a boy who reacted with violent behavior to an epilepsy medicine at 18 months old and was given Risperdal, a drug designed for adult psychosis cases.
On Risperdal, Andrew began screaming in his sleep and talking to invisible people during the day.
His mother had the good sense to observe the effects of this antipsychotic drug and get him taken him off of Risperdal.
She told the newspaper “It was just ‘Take this, no big deal,’ like they were Tic Tacs. He was just a baby.”
Since legally doctors are free to prescribe any medicine for any reason, there is nothing to stop a pediatrician, neurologist, or child psychiatrist from recommending a drug that has never been tested or approved for children, let alone infants.
To his credit, the author of The NY Times article included remarks by some professionals critical of this rise in psychiatric drug use in infants.
Dr. Mary Margaret Gleason, a pediatrician and child psychiatrist at Tulane University School of Medicine said, “There’s a sense of desperation with families of children who are suffering, and the tool that most providers have is the prescription pad.”
Dr. Gleason also stated that these medications can profoundly influence infant brain growth and that no formal clinical trials of the drugs have been done on infants and toddlers due to the potential dangers to brain development. Because of these dangers, she does not want to push for these studies to be done.
Dr. Martin Drell, former president of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, said he was “hard-pressed to figure out what the rationale would be” for the prescriptions.
Dr. Ed Tronick, a professor of developmental and brain sciences at the University of Massachusetts Boston said “I think you simply cannot make anything close to a diagnosis of these types of disorders in children of that age. There’s this very narrow range of what people think the prototype child should look like. Deviations from that lead them to seek out interventions like these. I think it’s just nuts.”
Additionally, we are told, “The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the American Academy of Neurology have no guidelines or position statements regarding use of antidepressants and antipsychotics in children younger than 3.”
The Big Picture
In 2014 when a report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the 10,000 toddlers being prescribed ADHD drugs surfaced in the media, a reporter at The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), a non-profit, non-political, non-religious mental health watchdog organization, did a full report with source references. Here are more of the statistics revealed by IMS Health for 2013.
0-1 year olds being prescribed psychiatric drugs:
- 249,669 0-1 year olds are on anti-anxiety drugs (such as Xanax, Klonopin, and Ativan).
- 26,406 0-1 year olds are on antidepressants (such as Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil).
- 1,422 0-1 year olds taking ADHD drugs (such as Ritalin, Adderall, and Concerta).
- 654 0-1 year olds are taking antipsychotics (such as Risperdal, Seroquel, and Zyprexa).
2-3 year olds (toddlers) being prescribed psychiatric drugs:
- 318,997 2-3 year olds are on anti-anxiety drugs.
- 46,102 2-3 year olds are on antidepressants
- 10,000 2-3 year olds being prescribed ADHD drugs
- 3,760 2-3 year olds are taking antipsychotics.
Growing numbers of prescriptions are being delivered to infants and toddlers despite the known debilitating side effects, deaths, homicides and suicides reported in older children and adults taking these medications.
Ritalin, Adderall and Concerta are psychiatric drugs that are given to kids diagnosed with ADHD. These are labeled Schedule II drugs, meaning they have a high potential for abuse, with use potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence. These drugs are considered dangerous.
The CCHR article also reported that:
“ADHD drugs also have serious side effects such as agitation, mania, aggressive or hostile behavior, seizures, hallucinations, and even sudden death, according to the National Institutes of Health. And the Food and Drug Administration still mandates that all labels for ADHD stimulants state ‘Long-term effects of amphetamines in children have not been well established.’
As far as antipsychotics, antianxiety drugs, and antidepressants, the FDA and international drug regulatory agencies cite side effects including, but not limited to, psychosis, mania, suicidal ideation, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and even sudden death.”
In Feb of 2015 a Wall Street Journal article asked “Why Are So Many Toddlers Taking Psychiatric Drugs?”
Sadly, the answer is that pharmaceutical companies manufacture them, doctors and psychiatrists prescribe them and a great deal of money is made at the expense of the mental and physical health of infants and children.
SOURCES:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/11/us/psychiatric-drugs-are-being-prescribed-to-infants.html?_r=0
http://www.cchrint.org/2014/05/21/10000-toddlers-on-adhd-drugs-tip-of-the-iceberg/
http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2015/02/19/why-are-so-many-toddlers-taking-psychiatric-drugs/
World Famous Psychiatrist Says: More Psychiatric Drug Treatment Means More Mass Shootings Will Happen
“These adverse (psych) drug effects—including agitation, irritability, hostility, aggressiveness, akathisia, and impulsivity—are an obvious prescription for violence. Akathisia, which I also described in my article, is a psychomotor agitation that is strongly associated with violence.”
“The FDA Medication Guide for antidepressants warns clinicians, patients and families to be on the alert for the following:
• acting on dangerous impulses
• acting aggressive or violent
• feeling agitated, restless, angry or irritable
• other unusual changes in behavior or mood”
“This list (above) of antidepressant adverse effects from the Medication Guide should make clear that antidepressants can cause violence.”
“The FDA also acknowledges the risk of both psychosis and aggression from the stimulant drugs used to treat ADHD…”
https://www.naturalblaze.com/2018/02/world-famous-psychiatrist-says-psychiatric-drug-treatment-means-mass-shootings-will-happen.html
There is such a need for us as parents to say NO but we can only do that when we work through our own issues which may be being projected into our envioronment which we all know our children then act out and say no more … prescription is written. NO it is not fair that we too have issues to deal with but we must look at our shadows. Family Constellations is a great way to work through all this. It has to start with us. We must take care of our little ones. Blessed be. Love only.
I would like to know how many of the children who are prescribed and administered any of these drugs are foster children and a ward of the state.
This link has some statistics for Florida. https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/12/21/1269115/0/en/CCHR-Florida-Calls-for-Investigation-into-Psychiatric-Drugging-of-Millions-of-Children.html
Good question. I hope somebody can answer this. Many of the children have been stolen from loving parents and maybe also from parents who use natural foods and who refuse vaccines. Then when they cry for their parents, they get put on psychiatric drugs which ruin their mental health. They loose their family and their heritage and often end up alone as homeless. Can anything be more evil? I relly hope this is one of the things which will stop soon and that all the perpetrators will get exposed, so it will not get encouraged to continue.
A friend was told her 3 year old would need three psych meds to address his schizophrenia, bipolar, ADHD. No dosage recommendations are available for a toddler. Plus they we’re told the meds would stop working around the age of 8 and he would be institutionalized. Instead she implemented immediate diet changes including removing gluten, dairy and artificial ingredients. Then took him to doctors to look at the underlying causes of the mental illness. Turned out he was missing the gene to make his own glutathione, which is the body’s natural antioxidant to detox. By making changes, adding in glutathione get never needed psych meds and went on to a normal life too. Doctors who followed this we’re amazed.
Forgot to mention, the vaccines he received set off the toxin trigger and the mental.illness because he was not able to detox the adjuvants in them. He received no benefit from the vaccines.
Thank you so much for the information. Yes, one wonders how it is that any parent can allow a child to get vaccinated. They end up ruining their own child’s life and then the psychiatrist get a chance to do even furter damage, of the worst kind, and debilitate the child for life. It was really good this mother woke up to the truth.
Any to be parent need the following information and books: Every Woman’s Herbal by Dr. John R. Christopher, Jean Liedloff book, ‘’The Continuum Concept’’ Incredible book on how to treat children from birth to make them strong and independent as in the Amazonas. Thin and easy to read and it is SO well explained! A must read for everyone.
Robert S. Mendelsohn, M. D. book: ‘’Confessions of a Medical Heretic’’ – the best. He is on YouTube and is very funny. He warns against doctors.
takebackyourpower.net on dangerous electronic meters versus mechanical. This is microwave radiation, not radio waves – see Barrie Trower on YouTube and Olle Johansson from Sweden. They explain why mobile phones and particularly smart phones and the G5 grid they want to give us is very dangerous and lethal.
Then to choose the best type of food we have The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, Ph. D.and I would watch also John Rose on YouTube. He is in a hot climate anbd speaks without a shirt on, but he knows a lot and is quite funny too.
On why vaccines are harmful vaccinetruth.com vactruth.com : In TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine, you NEVER inject anything directly into the blood
This is all very basic health knowledge and without it I am afraid, children will often be harmed.
The children that are experiencing psych issues need good nutrition, organic greens, eliminate sugar from their diet, fresh fruits only, stop can foods, wheat that has tons of pesticides. We ate poisoning our children and expecting them not to be anxious, depressed, hyperactive- it’s diet- SUGAR! Stop these things- let them enjoy nature, less computers, more books, calm with essential oils – lavender- teas! Do research! Stop poison – turn to nature’s medicine! You will see results! Don’t give up! These pills will sedate, swallow the character, cause manic behaviors, change brain development for the worse! Stop violent games on the internet. Look at yourself as a parent! First look in your mirror- how are you dealing with issues…?
Take a step back and fix that which is in you so you can help those who cannot yet fully express themselves! Start with food, let them see the calm in you and then they can immulate your behavior. Alternative therapy is the way to go – pharma will steal your Joy from your precious gifts! Nature- natural- peace and stability in their life will create a child without issues. Lots of water- no soda – no fruit juices with sugar- coconut waters- stop the sugar and start the green drinks- simple smoothies blueberries, banana, spinach, a few dates and almond milk – organic lifestyle!!! Good Luck! Don’t let your child be a statistic- be patient with yourself & these beautiful gifts- fix yourself patents ! Peace!
call it what it is: parent with poor parenting skills chemically restraining their children rather than expend energy raising their children. it is just as abusive as locking them in the closet and throwing away the key. another case of the xannie nannie (Xanax). this is child abuse.
“there is nothing to stop a pediatrician, neurologist, or child psychiatrist from recommending a drug that has never been tested or approved for children, let alone infants” – YES THERE IS, IT’S CALLED COMMON SENSE
Exactly. And the doctors stopped using that common sense completely when they started using excuses for what they do to patients. Or in case of most psychiatrists – they never had any because they are the ones that are crazy.
Evil.
Damage them with mercury and aluminum shot straight to the brain in vaccines…..then try to fix it with useless psychotropic meds. What an EVIL business model. This has been planned that way. Every human on drugs for life was revealed in big pharma email years ago. However they do it, they don’t care 😠
Any Toddler that is percieved to need drugs ought to be removed the people who think so. There is obviously something wrong at home.
It’s sad that ANYONE would give their children these drugs just because their doctor told them to! If my doctor tried, he would be long gone. The amount of naïveté about what is going on out there is shameful.
This has got to be the most disturbing thing I have read in a very long time.
He we go again big pharmaceuticals donot care who is hurt or helped by these medication, as long as their stock holders make money and the pharmaceuticals have hefty bottom line.I can tell you first hand what can happens when drugs are introduced to young childern. My nephew was given Kolopin a the age of 5 he was given it by his mother for anxiety. My nephew is now 28 and been an herion addict for 5 or more years. He himself believes it all started at 5. His brain chemistry was changed for ever.
As a Mom of 30 years to 3 kids all with ADHD and a RN of 23 years who has been on antidepressants previously for 22 years and now off, I am shocked at this article. I had no idea this was going on and am abhorred that it is.
These drugs, most of which came out 15-20+ years ago, were originally intended for use in adults only. Then at some point they began being used in teens and children. Now, they are being prescribed for infants and toddlers? What in the world is wrong with this picture? Can’t we tell when they are being dupped? Isn’t it time that we all started thinking for ourselves and stopped listening to those (I know I’ll get in trouble for this) beautifully dressed and well put together pharmaceutical sales reps that are just reciting their memorized scripts put together by very crafty marketing divisions within the pharmaceutical companies? Do you truly think they know the research, the intricate details of those drugs that they are marketing? It’s time we did our own research and looked back at the 15-20 years to data on most of these drugs and see who the intended target population was. Now that we are mostly all medicated, as well as the teens and children, they want you to go after the babies and toddlers?
Why aren’t we asking first, what is causing this (instead of throwing a drug at it)? Why aren’t we asking, was this child always like this? What was their demeanor prior to this? What happened around the time that this surfaced? What conditions changed? Be a detective, which is what I’m pretty sure we are all taught to do in school, stop “boxing” patients so you can throw a prescription at them and start doing our jobs right.
Parents need to STOP taking a prescription and getting it filled and giving it to their families without first reading the package inserts, warnings and looking up online what the information is on that particular drug. Go to some reputable source and read what they potential side effects are for your childs age group and know what to look for as a side effect. I didn’t do this for my daughters ritalin and one day when she was home, I gave it to her and saw how it zonked her. She had been complaining about what it did to her for a year, but I didn’t know. I didn’t realize it could do that…..that severely. It’s up to us parents to be the first line of defense and ask many, many questions…..don’t fall for the “white coat trance” and think doctors and nurses know everything….there’s no possible way we can.
I can guarantee you, the actions of these babies and toddlers (even chilren, teens and adults) are such that their bodies are screaming out for help/rebalancing, not a drug. Get the body fueled properly, help it remove the daily onslaught of toxins, and I guarantee you that things will turn around, quite possibly not right away, but eventually. Then, after you’ve been fueling the body properly, the way nature intended, reassess the situation and see if things are the same, worse or better.
Anti psychotics for infants and toddlers :O OMG, what will they come up with next?
People’s health have deteriorated because of smartphones and WiFi and now also electronic electricity meters, instead of the mechanical ones. These things are particularly dangerous to pregnant women and little babies. You can listen to Barrie Trower, micro weapons expert on YouTube and see takebackyourpower.net.
You are absolutely correct, this is exactly how I have been thinking. Glad to know I’m not the only one. I will check out the link you provided.
Yes, and don’t forget Barrie Trower on YouTube and there is also Olle Johansson from Sweden. This must be stopped. And the G5-grid they like to install is designed to scramble people’s minds and brains. It is lethal and even worse. I also just heard David Icke speak about it. He is so funny to listen to on his site, every week one hour or more.
I can’t believe this is happening. We need to talk to all our friends and get the word out. People have no idea what is being done to them. I eat right every day and try to take good care of my body, detox and live right. For those who are too busy or blind to be doing this, and are being affected, they are wondering what is wrong and going to the doctor for care. They tried to put my pre-teen on birth control for her heavy and painful periods, tried to put her on antidepressants and anti anxiety medications, all that was needed was a change in diet and taking better care of herself. (the auto accident didn’t help with her whiplash and moderate concussion). Now she deals with other things, but we are handling them without medication. The psych wanted her to see a psychiatrist even though she knows we are anti medication. It’s all they know how to do. I’m a “recovered RN” LOL. I think outside the box now and allpathic medication is the last line of defense in my playbook. All these electronics are going to kill us. 🙁 Wake up your friends! And use email, FB is messing with our PM’s and Posts! They don’t like what we are doing. 🙂
I post a lot of important things, but e-mail seems so intrusive. I don’t know how to do that. Good idea though. Why do you let your daughter see or speak to a psychiatrist at all? The best is to never go and see one. There is a herbal Reproductive Formula that would make the whole area clean out and develop properly and then all pains go away, see christopherwebsites.com and herballegacy.com. He is a source in herbal formulas. Then a lot of knowledge can be gained from listenting to John Rose on YouTube. He speaks about juice feasting and he ”admits” it is the raw vegan diet that cure every single disease in a short order of time. I would use it with w bit of cooked food and maybe very little meat. I try my best. But the info is definitely valuable. He also recommendes the book, The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, also on YouTube and Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman. Dr. Christopher basically sais the same thing about the diet. It is incredible, why we eat so much meat and have all those animal factories, while real farms dissapear. I think I will make the transition and a juice feast when I am ready and have the vegetables and fruits ready.
MO, that was such a well thought out and articulated comment! I applaud you for speaking your truth and the truth of so many others! There are natural ways to help balance the mind and body and if you haven’t already heard about the benefits of Hemp Oil, I’d love to share with you. Here’s my website http://www.balanced.primemybody.com
My health coaching site is http://www.wellnessbyjennifer.com
I couldn’t have said it better.
you have a screw loose to be sure. How dare you allow your children to be diagnosed with a FAKE illness and to be given drugs? SHAME ON YOU!!!! You want to ruin your life with meds you dont need …… DO IT, but to cause harm to your children???? People like you should never be allowed to have them
Mo, If you haven’t already read this book, I think you’d really appreciate it: “Nutrient Power: Heal Your Biochemistry and Heal Your Brain” by William Walsh PhD.