'Evidence-based medicine' a total joke as most SSRI antidepressants are prescribed for non-approval, non-tested health conditions

Thursday, February 11, 2016 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: SSRI antidepressants, off label use, evidence based medicine

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(NaturalNews) The prescription and use of antidepressants in the U.S. has skyrocketed over the past several decades, but research shows that a significant percentage of this legally sanctioned drug abuse has nothing to do with depression. Many doctors are now prescribing selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for all sorts of off-label conditions like eating disorders, so-called "obsessive compulsive" disorder and even premature ejaculation, according to a report compiled by Scientific American.

While only a very small fraction of the population would ever have thought to use an SSRI back in 1985, as many as one in 10 Americans today takes one regularly. Since the early 1990s, adult antidepressant use has increased by 400 percent, and particularly among women in their 40s and 50s, as many as one in four, or 25 percent, take one or more antidepressants.

The New York Times found back in 2013 that part of the reason for this massive increase in antidepressant drug use is that more people are demanding them these days, not to mention the fact that more doctors are willing to prescribe them. Rather than attempt to cope with feelings of sadness and forlorn by changing lifestyle habits or diet, many people's first thought is to run to the doctor to grab a prescription, hence the steady increase.

Up to 60 percent of antidepressant prescriptions are for non-psychological conditions

But another reason highlighted by Scientific American is that doctors are increasingly prescribing antidepressants for off-label uses that have nothing to do with depression. These conditions include everything from abuse and dependency issues relating to other drugs or substances to bipolar disorder and autism. Those with chronic neuropathic pain or fibromyalgia are also using antidepressants at the recommendation of their doctors.

According to Scientific American, anywhere from 25 to 60 percent of antidepressant prescriptions today are for non-psychological conditions unrelated to depression. This is astounding, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has never granted approval for SSRIs based on any of these conditions, but doctors are prescribing them in this manner at the behest of the money-hungry drug industry.

"Doctors commonly use antidepressants to treat many maladies they are not approved for," wrote Julia Calderone.

The most common and well-supported off-label uses of SSRIs, she says, include:

• Abuse and dependence
• ADHD (in children and adolescents)
• Anxiety disorders
• Autism (in children)
• Bipolar disorder
• Eating disorders
• Fibromyalgia
• Neuropathic pain
• Obsessive-compulsive disorders
• Premenstrual dysphoric disorder

When patents expire, drug companies just invent more uses for their garbage sorcery

This is an extensive list, and there are many more conditions being considered for "investigational uses," including as a treatment for arthritis, hot flashes, irritable bowel syndrome, migraine headaches, premature ejaculation and many other conditions.

Do SSRIs really work for any of these conditions? Probably not. But since many SSRI drugs have lost their patent protection over the years, drug companies are busy inventing new uses for these tools of sorcery in order to rake in more profits, regardless of whether or not the drugs actually help people in need (which they most likely do not).

Since these are brain-altering psychotropic drugs we're talking about here, there are powerful implications for brain chemistry and motor function among those who start downing these pills for every condition under the sun. SSRIs have been shown to make people suicidal and homicidal, and these drugs often have to be complemented with other drugs to avoid causing delusions, psychosis and permanent brain damage.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.scientificamerican.com

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com

https://jonrappoport.wordpress.com

http://science.naturalnews.com