A reader sent me the following terrifying article:
The antidepressant class of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are among the most frequently prescribed drugs for autism.
Although none are specifically approved for the treatment of autism, it’s estimated that up to one-third of autistic children receive the drugs, often to treat the repetitive behaviors like tapping or head banging that are frequently observed in those with the condition.
A new analysis by researchers from Yale and the University of Michigan has now revealed that serious study biases have been occurring; while published research appears to show the drugs have a modest benefit in patients, in reality they have little or no benefit at all.
People who use every opportunity to pump poor small children full of horrible, dangerous drugs with a multitude of side effects in order to turn these kids into convenient, zombified little robots are criminals.
The article starts well by identifying the reasons why drugs so often get overprescribed and misrepresented (corruption, of course) but then goes into the usual let’s “manage this illness” by avoiding vaccines, milk, artificial sweeteners, and home-cleaning products. Every time autism is mentioned in the media by a non-autistic I cringe because I already anticipate the offensive tone the article will adopt, the nasty terminology, and the general tactlessness of discussing autistics as if we were a bunch of freaks who need to be “managed” through all kinds of weird methods.
Clarissa's Blog 
Apparently, there is a move away from biologism in the treatment of some “pathologies” (real or not), right now. http://speedupsitstill.com/huffington-post-western-australia-france-adhd
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This is a very good article, thank you for the link! The monstrosity of people who cover up their incapacity to raise their own children with pumping them full of prescription medication terrifies me. If raising kids is so hard or if it bores you so much, then how about choosing not to procreate at all? This is a choice that is widely available in Western countries. Why give birth to them and then treat them like guinea pigs or toys? These are people, for fuck’s sake!
This issue really bothers me.
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I don’t understand why people have children and then are shocked, shocked I tell you, that their adorable little pets turn out to be human beings with different wants and needs! I mean, why not just buy one of those realistic dolls that they have in stores instead?
Seriously, I’ve known people who’ve had children who supposedly had a host of “problems” needing them to be drugged to the eyeballs — things like being rambunctious or unable to sit still for hours and concentrate on homework. Things that when I was a kid were considered normal parts of being a child, that the child would learn to grow out of with some training. I think back on my own childhood now and realize that I had a number of habits (having trouble concentrating on anything I wasn’t interested in, rocking for hours of time in a rocking chair while listening to my radio, being an antisocial loner who preferred to sit alone and read rather than play with other kids) that if I’d been a child now would have gotten me labeled as autistic or something and I’d have been stuffed with drugs by well-meaning adults.
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That’s exactly what I’m saying! These are human beings and the human condition, as aggravating as it may be, cannot be cured with medication. We are all plenty annoying but it’s the children who get the bulk of this medicating mania because the adults who brought them into this world in the first place cannot be bothered to deal with them.
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“The article starts well by identifying the reasons why drugs so often get overprescribed and misrepresented (corruption, of course) but then goes into the usual let’s “manage this illness” by avoiding vaccines, milk, artificial sweeteners, and home-cleaning products.”
That’s Mercola for you. Never met a boogeyman he wasn’t scared of.
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To be entirely fair, some people have severe forms of autism plus unsafe forms of expressing frustration. There is little insurance coverage or financial support for truly good autism behavioral therapy for the rare autistic person with unsafe behavior. Parents may have few affordable options, and be willing to try psychoactive drugs for the child, an option more likely to be paid for by insurance.
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“People who use every opportunity to pump poor small children full of horrible, dangerous drugs with a multitude of side effects in order to turn these kids into convenient, zombified little robots are criminals.”
I realize you’re talking specifically about falsely prescribing anti-depressants to children with autism here, but I really wish you wouldn’t refer to these drugs as “horrible” and “dangerous” when, if prescribed carefully, they can save lives. My own life included.
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Obviously, this was my meaning. It’s the same as anti-biotics that are hugely helpful to many people but are horrible and dangerous when prescribed to people with conditions they cannot possibly address.
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