The fact that official studies are being conducted but are not looking into the possible connection between psychiatric drugs and military and veteran suicides is unconscionable. Our service men and women deserve real help but instead they are being prescribed drugs with dangerous side effects.
A study conducted by the Department of Psychiatry, Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress, in Bethesda, Maryland reports that there is an increased risk for suicidal behavior in military units with a history of suicide attempts, but the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) cautions that unless the researchers also took into account what psychiatric medication may have been involved that they may have missed the real underlying cause for the suicidal behavior. [1]
In the Suicide Among Veterans and Other Americans 2001-2014 report produced by the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, it was announced by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that veterans accounted for 18 percent of all deaths by suicide among U.S. adults. Yet nowhere in this extensive report does it mention the number of veterans that are prescribed psychiatric drugs. [2]
According to an article written by Eva Brindisi Pearlman, an attorney in New York, “from 2005 to 2011, the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration increased their prescriptions of psychiatric drugs by almost 700 percent. That is more than 30 times faster than the noncombatant rate, in less than ten years.” [3]
“The fact that official studies are being conducted but are not looking into the possible connection between psychiatric drugs and military and veteran suicides is unconscionable,” stated Diane Stein, President of CCHR Florida. “Our service men and women deserve better, they deserve real help but instead they are being prescribed drugs with dangerous side effects.”
Documented information shows that of 409 official psychiatric drug warnings, 49 warn of self-harm, suicide or suicidal ideation.[4] In order to bring attention to the dangerous side effects of psychiatric drugs and the drugging of veterans, the Florida chapter of CCHR, a non-profit mental health watchdog organization dedicated to the eradication of abuses committed under the guise of mental health, holds regular screenings of THE HIDDEN ENEMY: INSIDE PSYCHIATRY'S COVERT AGENDA featuring Lt. Col. Bart Billings, Clinical Psychologist U.S. Army Reserve, Ret. Veterans, active-duty military and their families are invited to visit the CCHR center at 109 N. Fort Harrison Ave in downtown Clearwater to watch this eye opening documentary. To reserve a seat for the next showing please call 727-442-8820.
About CCHR: Initially established by the Church of Scientology and renowned psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHR’s mission is to eradicate abuses committed under the guise of mental health and enact patient and consumer protections. It was L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, who brought the terror of psychiatric imprisonment to the notice of the world. In March 1969, he said, “Thousands and thousands are seized without process of law, every week, over the ‘free world’ tortured, castrated, killed. All in the name of ‘mental health.’” For more information visit, www.cchrflorida.org
Sources:
[1] Suicide Attempt History in Army Units Puts Troops at Risk https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/883643
[2] Suicide Among Veterans and Other Americans 2001-2014 https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/2016suicidedatareport.pdf
[3] IS THERE A CONNECTION BETWEEN PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS & VETERAN SUICIDES? http://www.bmbplawyers.com/is-there-a-connection-between-psychiatric-drugs-and-veteran-suicides.html
[4] Psychiatric Drugs Create Violence & Suicide: Putting the Community at Risk https://www.cchrint.org/pdfs/violence-report.pdf
