Open House held to educate the general public on the connection between psychiatric drugs and suicidal ideation during National Suicide Prevention Week.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a non-profit mental health watchdog organization that works to enact consumer protections, is inviting anyone wanting to learn more about the connection between psychiatric drugs and suicidal ideation to visit their center at 109 N. Fort Harrison Ave in Clearwater, Florida during National Suicide Prevention week.
September 10th, 2018 marks the 16th World Suicide Prevention Day and on that day organizations across the country hold events to raise awareness on suicide during National Suicide Prevention Week. As part of the campaign to bring attention to the subject of suicide, the Florida chapter of CCHR will be holding an open house from September 10th through the 15th and is encouraging anyone who wants to know more about the role psychiatric drug side effects play in the thousands of suicide deaths that occur each year to visit their center in downtown Clearwater.
According to the 2017 Annual Report from the Suicide Prevention Coordinating Council published earlier this year, suicide is the eleventh leading cause of death in Florida with 3,122 people taking their lives in 2016. This figure includes 296 suicides by those in the 10-24 age group making suicide the third leading cause of death for children, teens and young adults. [1]
Despite enacting both national and state level plans as early as the year 2001 to address the increasing number of suicides, the rates of people taking their lives has continued to climb proving that the suicide prevention measures being taken are not working. One reason for this may be that the suicide prevention initiatives and actions revolve around increased access to mental health programs that rely heavily on the prescription of psychiatric drugs. It is know that these drugs come with side effects that may include suicidal ideation and completed suicide yet the public information campaigns fail to make the connection between these drugs and suicides known.
Fourteen years after the FDA issued a warning that children and teenagers who were taking antidepressants might have increased suicidal thoughts and behavior, not only is the suicide rate increasing but also one in ten people ages 12 and older are taking an antidepressant in the United States. The FDA warning was issued as a result of studies, which demonstrated that children and teenagers who take antidepressants were nearly twice as likely to think about, actually attempt or commit suicide. [2]
Even more disturbing is that despite the fact that suicide rates for adolescent boys and girls have been steadily rising since 2007, over 2.1 million children 17 years of age and younger are taking antidepressants in the United States. [3] [4]
“Over the past almost 20 years a lot of resources have been used to raise awareness on the increasing number of suicides and to provide easier access to mental health services yet the suicide rate is not decreasing,” stated Diane Stein, President CCHR Florida. “If our policy makers continue to ignore the fact that the psychiatric drugs being used to prevent suicides are in fact creating the problem more people will needlessly die.”
With prescription drugs having become an epidemic in America and in other parts of the world, CCHR feels it is vital for the general public to know that antidepressant prescriptions continue to rise right along side suicide rates despite the known side effects of these dangerous drugs. [5] [6] The CCHR Florida National Suicide Prevention Week Open House runs daily from September 10th-15th at their center located at 109 N. Fort Harrison Ave in downtown Clearwater. To learn more, please call 727-442-8820 or visit https://www.cchrflorida.org/eventer/open-house-national-suicide-prevention-week/edate/2018-09-10/
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. L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, first brought psychiatric imprisonment to wide public notice: “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,’” he wrote in March 1969. For more information visit, www.cchrflorida.org
Sources:
[1] 2017 ANNUAL REPORT SUICIDE PREVENTION COORDINATING COUNCIL
http://www.dcf.state.fl.us/programs/samh/publications/OpenAttachment2018.pdf
[2] Do Antidepressants Increase Suicide Attempts? Do They Have Other Risks?
http://www.center4research.org/antidepressants-increase-suicide-attempts-risks/
[3] Suicide Rates For Teen Boys And Girls Are Climbing
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/suicide-rates-teen-girls_us_59848b64e4b0cb15b1be13f4
[4] Number of Children & Adolescents Taking Psychiatric Drugs in the U.S.
https://www.cchrint.org/psychiatric-drugs/children-on-psychiatric-drugs/
[5] Hooked on Pharmaceuticals: Prescription Drug Abuse in America
https://www.drugwatch.com/2015/07/29/drug-abuse-in-america/
[6] Latest prescription data shows consumption of psychiatric drugs continues to soar
