Antidepressants are worth millions to Psychiatrists and the Pharmaceutical Industry

I’ve just read a reply by ‘Inspire Courage to Fight’ on Making A Killing: The Untold Story of Psychotropic Drugging (it’s well worth watching and may change your mind about antidepressants, psychiatrists and the Pharmaceutical Industry).

Making A Killing is the story of how the Pharmaceutical Industry has created an imaginary mental health epidemic that funds a $330 billion psychiatric industry….all without a single cure…and here’s the kicker…Psychotropic Drugs kill an estimated 42,000 people every year.

“Psychiatry is not a science”…never has been and never will be. The DSM, allied Psychiatry and the Pharmaceutical Industry have created a symphony of ‘new’ diseases and corresponding drug treatments that have paid off well. For over two decades thousands of researchers and reporters have been unmasking Pharmaceutical drugging and exposing the entrenched political lobbing and marketing circus of this money-making machine, yet more…much more, needs to be done to stop the ‘legal drugging’ of our children. 

A mothers story of her fight to save her children

I am trying to save my eldest son with a mitral heart valve prolapse/regurgitation and tricuspid heart valve prolapse/regurgitation from a similar but different fate involving the State of California behavioral health courts and a court system that wants to force potentially deadly psychotropic drugs on my son that interfere with his heart intervals and could further damage his heart and body and give him diabetes and stroke and heart attack and potentially cause him death.

I have to rush to get a conservatorship over him, but I waited to get reacquainted with him to see first to what degree would he be able to take care of himself and his own life without help. He is a 10-year-old in a 25-1/2-year-old body.

His father had him heavily drugged after my lawyer suddenly died and my ex-husband went to court when our son was almost 12, and gained primary custody over him for superior financial status to be able to benefit him more “materially” than I could at that time.

For my son, or me or anybody I love, I am setting up to do both a very meticulously specified “Advanced Health Care Directive” and/or a “Limited, Conditional Durable Power of Attorney” with the exact same specifications in my “Advanced Health Care Directive.”

I can put in my documents, that I very specifically forbid any form of psychotropic drugs being administered ( to either of my sons [in their documents], or to any loved one [within their own documents]) , and then also put “Imprecatory Language” (threat of lawsuit, stating that I will sue, or that I/family in advance of otherwise preventable illness/side-effects/death am ordering my family/friends/trusted home health care helpers and/or survivors to sue any medical facility and/or individual(s) that turn out to cause my loved one(S) or me harm and damage, however slight, especially for failing to obey and carry out clearly-specified “Advance Health Care Directives” to not administer any shape or form of psychotropic medicines for any reason.

Additionally, I might also include “Exhibit-A,” “B,” “C,” etc… of underlined and/or yellow-marked highlighted reports listing all the possible side-effects of psychotropic drugs in general, or any class or classes of psychotropic drugs in general, until all the different classes are covered. A document is not enforceable if it lacks the necessary imprecatory language in all 50 states.

Pretty colors...deadly side effects too!

QUACKERY HARMED MY SON: Our now 25-year-old eldest son with the intelligence level of a 10-year-old suffered needless heart-damage and suffered his brain being fried by a quack psychiatrist who experimented on him with different heavy drug cocktails mixed with Ritalin, Lithobid, Lexapro, Seroquel, Risperidal, Haldol, and Zyprexa.

Our son was kept safe from these things until he was 11 turning 12 when my family law lawyer suddenly died. My ex-husband did the fast strategic “Spanish March” to court claiming superior finances and won primary shared custody of both our sons with the court’s grant of his request to have the final deciding word on any subject in dispute regarding our son’s health, education, and welfare.

Dad could not control our eldest son, so he kept him drugged.

Our son kept calling me for help when he was 15-16-17-18 and only 125 pounds, complaining of severe heartburn and inability to focus to do homework while on the different drug cocktails that Dad (a nurse) and the doctor, were experimenting with. I did all I knew to do at that time to stop over-drugging our son. After my lawyer died, values were less important to the judge than money. I then had secondary lesser custody for our minor children, so my hands were legally hog-tied to act to protect our eldest son.

The psychiatrist completely ignored my letters requesting him to lower my son’s dosages to the minimum, or even taper him off, citing adverse side-effects he was suffering.  Then, some years back, around October, Anna Nicole Smith’s young adult son Daniel died of a combination of psychotropic drugs — the very same drugs listed above that my own son was being forced to take against his will.

This time, I had studied some cases. I wrote a “Notice of Duty & Liability & Breach & Intent to Sue” letter to the psychiatrist, based upon visiting 4 different pharmacists who asked me: “Who is trying to kill this kid? Do you know that his prescription is 4-times more than that of Daniel Smith’s deadly dose?” The psychiatrist complied, tapered Nathaniel down and then off the strong cocktails.

Then, later, the same psychiatrist was grossly negligent, and his lack of checking into the young man’s medical history, and his insistence on a higher dosage, and his other combined actions ended up needlessly killing a young 32-year-old man. The psychiatrist blamed his patient’s death on other mental health hospital staff. The truth came out.

The psychiatrist was disciplined by the California Medical Board. He was severely restricted in his practice in what he could and could not do. Then, later, there was a state lawsuit against him. Then there was a federal government lawsuit against him. Then there was another patient who he almost killed, and did great harm and damage to.

So sad for the family who lost their 32-year-old son and for the other patients who complained about this long-time psychiatrist. A reasonable likelihood exists that his actions and omissions and liking for prescribing higher dosages of multiple-ingredient mixed psychotropic cocktails to his patients could have harmed and damaged many more people than we know about.

My ex married his 4th wife, who did not want our eldest son around her, so the blessing is that he came down to live with me. We got fishing licenses, are taking short classes on different vocational skills together, are focusing on the happier and more successful sides of life, and want to go on living happily.

Thanks to this psychiatrist, my son’s heart has been damaged.

Now I have to fight the local mental health one-stop facilities from seizing conservatorship over my young adult son to force him to take deadly psychotropic drugs for a person with heart valve damages, plural. I would just pull my son out of their programs, but he got in a little trouble with the law, not knowing that he had to have a concealed weapons permit to carry a kitchen steak knife to the canal to go fishing! (to fillet any fish caught!).

The District Attorney did not know how severely disabled he is mentally, and is prosecuting him as an adult, though he has a 10-year-old brain, literally physically “shrunk” by all those psychotropics. The Mental Behavioral Health Court is what the new lawyer said is my son’s only hope to not go to prison for 3 years, and the lawyer forced my son to plead “no contest,” so sentencing is yet to come. How can going fishing cause one to allegedly be guilty of a felony and then cause one to be forced to take even more strong potentially deadly psychotropic medications for the rest of his life, which could be shortened by such malpractice!!!

The courts are not medical doctors. The psych facilities have medical doctor psychiatrists, but most of them who we have talked to have been covering and protecting the doctor who did our son so much irreversible permanent harm and damage.

Written by a loving mom

Addition Information:

• In the book The Emperor’s New drugs, Irwin Kirsch, a psychologist, has revealed that more than half of clinical trials sponsored by pharmaceutical companies Food and Drug Administration between 1987 and 1999 found that SSRIs relieve depression is no better than placebo.

• Prozac, Zoloft [sertraline], Paxil [Aropax, Seroxat, Sereupin], Effexor, Celexa. These popular antidepressants are effective—but their function arises mainly from the placebo effect. Psychologist Irving Kirsch arrived at this conclusion a few years ago after he and his colleagues took a thorough look at all the data from experiments with antidepressants.

•  What is advance care planning? Advance care planning is a process enabling a patient to express wishes about his or her future health care in consultation with their health care providers, family members and other important people in their lives. Based on the ethical principle of patient autonomy and the legal doctrine of patient consent, advance care planning helps to ensure that the concept of consent is respected if the patient becomes incapable of participating in treatment decisions.

• ADVANCE HEALTH CARE DIRECTIVE   This form deals with your future health care. The time may come when you cannot speak for yourself. By completing this form, you can give directions about what medical treatment you would want, or not want, at such a time.

• Fact Sheet about Advance Health Care Directive (for use in Residential Aged Care Facilities)

“I am really disappointed that you are publishing this article without ethically including the other side of the story. Pretty much all the patient quotes in the ‘body’ of the article are from the one website ratemds.com and you haven’t included any of the positive comments. Anyone can do a search of that site and see more than 50% of the comments are supportive of the treatment received from Prof Burrows. I have spoken to many patients who are very happy with his treatment. I’m not denying that a percentage are not suited to his style of practice but my personal opinion is don’t crucify a man who has probably done more for mental health promotion and awareness in Australia over the last few decades than any other mental health professional in the country. Those who are unhappy should take action through the medical board or through the legal system. Trial by media is never an appropriate course of action”.

"I don’t think there’s anyone in the world today who could emphatically say how an anti-depressant works"

From your posts on the web I would have to say that anyone who has been part of the mental health culture for over two decades and can make statements like… “I have seen patients of his [Graham Burrows] on about 15 different brands of anti-depressants and four different brands of antipsychotics”, and, “I’m not a doctor but it does appear to my eyes in recent years that Seroquel and Abilify are the two most effective antipsychotic medications”… would mean that you are most likely a psychiatric nurse and not only interested in keeping your job but also a personal supporter of Graham Burrows.

This blog was written to give desperate people a chance to have their voice heard.  And no, they couldn’t find another doctor and no, it would have been impossible for them to be able to articulate their suffering at the hands of such a lauded doctor to the medical board who are well known to protect even the most reprehensible doctors in the medical profession.

7News is not to my knowledge ‘on a witch hunt’. They had over 700 patients of Graham Burrows contact them with horror stories and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Graham Burrows s disdain and mistreatment for even one person in his care is a flagrant disregard to both his oath as a doctor and his obligation to his patient. In his arrogance he dispensed his own personal brand of un-professionalism to thousands of desperately ill people and it is evident from his patients own comments that they feel he treated them like lab-rats, over medicated them, misdiagnosed them and has continued to fully support the pharmaceutical industry until the 7News report was aired.

Graham Burrows has been called the ‘Cosmetic Psychiatrist‘, a ‘gun for hire‘ and only now the Medical Board is monitoring allegations made by patients.

Perhaps you are unaware Cathy that Seroquel is an anti-psychotic that comes with increased risks of obesity, diabetes, muscle spasms and other serious life threatening side effects and that just this March, AstraZeneca paid $68.5 million to settle claims that it improperly marketed Seroquel for children and for other unapproved uses beyond the treatment of adult schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

I’ll close with this little number from dear Professor Graham Burrows, he said, “I don’t think there’s anyone in the world today who could emphatically say how an anti-depressant works – whichever antidepressant group and having said that we do know a lot of chemistry about what actually occurs. Now I sometimes say does anyone know what electricity is, but we use it”. [no citation needed as it's spread over hundreds of web-pages by now!]

Cathy, I know how much Graham Burrows likes to recommend electroconvulsive therapy…what are his words again…oh yes he said it was, “the most effective treatment for severe depression“. Well…if you see Graham tell him that before he schedules another patient for ECT if he would like me to explain just how electricity works…he can give me a call.

Graham Burrows has published the Handbook of General Hospital Psychiatry and has contributed chapters to approximately 190 other scientific books. He serves on the editorial boards of 30 international and Australian journals. It sounds like Graham Burrows’s a man on a mission…but who’s mission? As chairman of the Mental Health Foundation it is known that he accepted funding on behalf of the Foundation from AstraZeneca, Servier and Pfizer.

How did it all begin?

The Mental Health Foundation of Australia was born in July 1981when five people (Dr Graham Dene Burrows, Graeme Angus, Anne Thomson, the Reverend Alan Jones and Albert Moore) gathered at the Department of Psychiatry at Melbourne University to form the Foundation.

The MHFA was begun as a charitable organization. Graham Burrows and his four friend wanted to draw attention to what psychiatry called ‘the nation’s rapidly mounting mental health problem’. I’m sure this merry little band could also see that a charitable organization was (is) a lucrative business with lots of perks as long as one kept up the spin of disinformation to both the public and the Government. And much of their reasoning was true. Certainly there were [and are still today] an inadequacy of mental health care due to cost cutting exercises by the Government that had resulted in closing mental health hospitals in favor of [underfunded] community care and pharmaceutical medication.

The MHFA quickly came to be considered a ‘peak body’ and defined one of it’s fundamental aims as: “To encourage and promote mental health at a personal and social level according to such values as justice, equality and humaneness”. But as we can see from the news on channel 7 there is a palpable difference in the attitudes of a great many of Graham Burrows’s patients and certainly with this type of exposure there will be a greater awareness within the community.

My conclusion is this in terms of Graham Burrows is that he is not the only rotten apple in the barrel. He’s not the only megalomaniac with a bad case of, “ look at me – I’m God”. I could name two or three dozen others just like him. The two that come to mind are Patrick McGorry and Ian Hickie.

Psychiatrist Graham Burrows

Here are just some of the [very raw] comments I found online…let their voices be heard.

Prof Burrows decision to start me on medication started a snowball effect that ruined my life for 4 years. I had an eating disorder, was under-weight and suffering psychosis directly from malnutrition. I was put on a ridiculously high dose of Schizophrenia medication along with sleeping tablets and anxiety tablets, before I had even been properly assessed by him that he continued to increase while I was under his care. My mum fought so hard to get me off the medication as what I needed was gentle, caring treatment for the eating disorder, re-feeding and understanding. The medication turned me into a zombie and I could barely function. This then gave them permission to say I was mentally unwell, and I was put on and off many medications for way too long, which knocked both my mind and body around immensly. I finally was taken off medication 1 year ago and my life feels like it has just started, life is now fantastic. And as my mum says, Burrows ego arrives 5 minutes before he does.

And…

“Dr. Burrows is an arrogant, mindless idiot of the highest order. Not only did he WRONGLY DIAGNOSE ME WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA when I was suffering a psychosis, as a result of severe malnutrition… he put me on a ridiculously high dose of schizophrenic medication- FAR exceeding any amount that a person of my height and weight should have been taking… I was an eighteen year old girl and I was taking quadruple the dose of the adult males in the clinic!! The medication turned me into a dribbling zombie, but he kept UPPING THE DOSE because he couldn’t understand why it wasnt workng… HINT… maybe because I DIDNT HAVE SCHIZOPHRENIA!?! This high dose resulted in me having my first grand mal seizure. He should be out of practise. He is an absolute fool, an arrogant, unkind, unempathetic, heartless man”.

And…

“Throughout the 1990s, Dr Burrows was the public face of the Australian False Memory Association. For years, Dr Burrows has promoted the false notion that many women with histories of sexual abuse are, in fact, liars and fantasists. He subsequently wrote a character reference for another psychiatrist, who was also a Board Member of the Australian False Memory Association, who was struck off for having a sexual relationship with a patient who subsequently committed suicide. Dr Burrows defence of people accused of sexual offences raises serious questions about his credibility and professionalism”.

And…

“Nasty, small minded old man. Of all the doctors i have seen Burrows really takes the cake. Thank the gods that he has been given the boot from Austin Hospital. This foolish old man thinks that just because he can stick a few certificates on his wall, that he is a competant Dr. I had to have a medical report written by him for a Work Care claim. He charged almost $786.00 for less than half a page of nonsensicle dribble. I pity any person that happens to be unfortunate enough to be placed under his so called care. Beware of this man. Try every other doctor you can before you even think about making an appointment with this evil little man. His license needs to be revoked and it is entirely possible that he himself requires treatment for a Schizo-effective Narsosistic Personality Disorder. He needs to be questioned as to his intent when dealing with Mental Illness. His lack of Empathy, Sympathy and Understanding is well known amongst his colleagues. He needs treatment himself”.

And…

“Amaazed that he can be so rude and lack empathy to his patients. When questioned about drugs,he cannot cope with it, as b/c he is a professor no one should dare question him as to what he says. Reasuring to see that Iam not the only one he has been so judgemental, calling names etc and so very rude and makes his pts feel toatlly lacking in self esteem and any likley hood in getting better unless taking, handfuls of addictive drugs.Once he has you. he wontlet you go and just maybe he continues to destroy you”.

And…

“I find it scary that this man is still able to practice as a psychiatrist. It needs to be public knowledge that Graham Burrows has ruined many peoples lives. He gives out drugs constantly, you would have to wonder if he is getting paid commission from the pharmacutical companies. Just dont go to Dr Burrows. He is very bad person. And going by this board, has hurt alot of people. And Graham if you are reading this, maybe you need to go take a look at yourself and reaccess your motives and take a long hard look at what you have done to people. Maybe you could apologise to people whose lives you have ruined”.

And…

“This man is perhaps the most arrogant professional i have ever met in the mental health field. i found him to be mysoginistic and to be completely therepeutically unskilled in his preparedness to cross boundaries. no doubt he knows about medication, but i question his understanding of human behaviours. he lacks humility and actually boasts that he is arrogant”!

And…

“I seriously wonder how an obesessive compulsive can be diagnosing patients and deciding their course of treatment when he needs to sort out his own headspace. He’s also rude and very possessive of the seats in his waiting area if other patients sit near his suite he clears them away claiming that they are his seats!. This guy has so many issues that he is not fit to treat anyone. I would also suggest that before he diagnoses someone with a schizoaffective disorder, he should sit back and think how a mother feels about being separated from her year-old child. I would take out anyone who tried to separate me from my kids and from what I could see, the woman’s attitude was reactive to the situation. Burrows has no empathy. He has his own issues to deal with, so don’t expect him to have time for yours”!

And…

“Like many of you i was unfortunate enough to have Graham burrows as my doctor. He was rude, arrogant, denegrated me and my family, prescribed me excessive amounts of addictive drugs and above all treated me like i had no hope of recovery or a normal life when infact since iv stopped seeing him my life is greater than it was before i got sick. He is cruel and hurtful to those people who desperatly come to him for help. He is a money hungry, self righteous man who should NOT be working in mental health. STAY AWAY FROM THIS DOCTOR”.

And…

“I saw Graeme Burrows for 3 years. He prescribed an addictive drug and when I queried taking it for such a long time he told me it didn’t matter as would be on them for the rest of my life.WRONG> I changed Drs. and got off the medication. This man is a professor and AO, HE IS VERY HIGHLY REGARDED BECAUSE HE CONVINCES ALL AND SUNDRY THAT HE IS JUST ONE STEP BEHIND MOTHER TERESA BUT IS JUST ABOUT TO PUT HIS FOOT ON HER VEIL”.

And…

“One of the worst professionals I’ve ever been to… completely lacks empathy or human connection. Without giving away too many details, I can say that my health (both emotional and physical) were greatly saved by cutting him out of my treatment team… he treats patients like lab rats”.

And…

“Dr Graham Burrows is a someone who believes because he is a Professor he is above everyone. If you go and see this doctor it is unlikely you will be helped. He may write you out a prescription for a drug of addiction to shut you up or you may spend your time being spoken down to. I hve spoken to many, many people who have come out worse after been treated by this so called “doctor”. He wrongly diagnoses people, refuses to listen and is just damn right arrogant. All this doctor did for me was give me drugs, wrongly diagose me and took my money. To Graham Burrows we are not his patients. We are his customer”.

I eagerly await the next installment of this saga and can only hope that the voices of mental health patients and the community will be heard and a [transparent] inquiry will be held in the very near future.

Please add your voice to theirs and share your story with others.

Is this the face of a Brave New World? Or a part of the DeLorean Club lining their pockets?

services for young people. State Governments will have to cough up 50 per cent to help Patrick McGorry cover the cost of establishing 12 extra early psychosis prevention and intervention centres.

On the ABC AM program, Budget Provides Mental Health Relief with Peter Cave, Patrick McGorry made this comment, “Well Headspace is being very steadily scaled up across the country and now for the first time it is being backed up by EPPIC (Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre) programs, early psychosis programs”.

So now dear Australians, we have a government committing millions of dollars to create an extra 30 Headspace and EPPIC centres that will be focusing on our young people.

So, why do I have this sinking feeling that that’s not such a good thing?

On  11th May 2001 ABC’s Online with Tony Jones talking to Mark Butler, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mr Butler said during the interview that, “Two-thirds of all mental illnesses present before age 21 and early intervention is vital”.

Tony Jones was full of praise for Patrick McGorry saying, “Yes, we’ve spoken to Patrick McGorry in the past about the critical need for early intervention to catch and treat psychosis in young people and adolescents, but as you’ve just pointed out, you’re also talking about catching and treating disorders in very young children”.

Mark Butler’s reply sent a chill down my spine, he said, “There is. I mean, the evidence is emerging. It’s at a younger stage – forgive the pun – at a younger stage than the evidence around teenagers and early 20-year-olds. But, our advisory group presented very clear evidence that the nought to 12 age is a very important age. As young as three, we know that infants can present signs of emerging behavioural disorders, which if they’re not caught in time, they’re not treated, can become a very serious problem in primary school and develop into quite serious mental illness in adolescence”.

Tony Jones then asked, “Have I understood you correctly that as part of the new program, all Australian children will be checked at the age of three for signs of mental illness”?

Mark Butler’s answer had, in my opinion, a sinister ring to it, he said, “Well, the Commonwealth – our government introduced a healthy kids check at four years old. It obviously is a voluntary check. It is tied in many ways to the family tax benefit part A, but it obviously is a voluntary check. At the moment, it takes place at four and it tends to check things like hearing, vision, physical health, but the very clear advice to us was twofold: firstly, the check should be brought back to three years old, and secondly we should broaden the check to incorporate social and emotional well-being and development”.

Imagine that! The Government is tying the voluntary health check for every four (soon to be three) year old in the country into the family tax benefit’s to facilitate compliance!

Is this now the age of ‘Voluntary Compliance’ that hard working young families will have to undertake in order to just survive?

Is this the Governments way of coercing young parents into cooperating in the new 2012 e-Health Records?

Is this how our government will ensure that every person (in the future) will be listed on the e-Health Records and if deemed ‘At Risk‘ will be labelled with ‘Psychosis Risk Syndrome ‘ and required to under go Patrick McGorry’s Anti-Psychotic Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention program?

Well you have to hand it to them [the Government], they have woven a very nice web, one that will ensure that all of us that want or need any type of health services for our children will have to voluntarily comply by giving them all of our private health information. All information will be logged in the Government’s (expensive but unsecured) database that can be viewed by anyone involved in a health research study, including the pharmaceutical companies that fund the studies and the EPPIC.

Bravo! No fuss. No arguments. Let’s all get our kids on the [legal] drugs.

The method government has chosen ensures the little sheep of Australia will do as they’re told, because if they don’t, they’ll lose their tax benefits and have to stick their hand down (very deep) into their pockets to pay for services they want or desperately need.

Mark Butler went on to say when asked by Tony Jones on this enlightening ABC program, “So what happens if you find an emerging disorder in a three-year-old child?” Butler replied at the end of a rambling sentence, ”We’ve got models…” yet there was no elaboration on just what ‘models’ the Government was proposing.

So who will be monitoring these services? Any guesses? Well it’s the mother of ‘Big Brother‘. All family mental health support services will be run under FaHCSIA. This is the department that has it’s fingers in every pie, so if parents don’t ‘Voluntarily Comply’ they may be seen to be neglecting their child’s health care needs and  FaHCSIA will then alert  DoCS who are obliged to make an assessment regarding the parents unwillingness to ‘Voluntarily Comply‘.

The child and family may be visited by a DoCS worker because the information provided by FaHCSIA will indicate that the child is in immediate danger – by law, Community Services must investigate where a child or young person is or may be at risk of significant harm from abuse or neglect. DoCS has the power to remove any child or young person it deems ‘at risk’.

Since the Government now considers ALL children and young people ‘At Risk’…parents won’t have a leg to stand on. It will be a case of ‘Voluntarily Compliance’ or risk lose your child.

Sound like a nightmare? Well it gets worse…in the next blof we will get back to Patrick McGorry. There are several disturbing elements in Patrick McGorry’s research and I’m not the only one to question his motives or methodologies. We’ll take a closer look in the next blog.

On today’s video program in ‘Bio Science Education’, we will be introducing you to Dr Mary Megson.

Dr. Megson is a developmental pediatrician in private practice in Richmond, Virginia. She is board certified by the American Academy of Pediatrics and was Director of Developmental Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital in Richmond for nine years.

Dr. Megson’s current private practice is devoted to diagnosing and treating developmentally delayed children, specializing in autism. Research area is use of vitamin A and Bethanecol in treatment of Autistic Spectrum Disorders. She conducted a clinical trial to investigate her hypothesis that G-alpha protein defect is a high risk factor for developing autism after vaccination.

Our next ‘Bio Science Education’ program will be on 8th May 2011

Utopia Research Institute’s aim is to make available in Australia information on the use of a comprehensive biochemical assessment and advanced complementary nutritional treatment of a range of disorders such as behavioural disorders, ADD, ADHD, learning disorders and Autism as well as mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression.

Dr Bill Walsh created the Walsh Research Institute exclusively for research, educational and charitable purposes, including, for such purposes to:

1. engage in research in the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology;
2. train and educate in the areas of biochemistry and advanced nutrient therapy;
3. aid or assist medical researchers and/or medical practitioners in clinical practice;
4. establish, assist in establishment of or otherwise finance research and education in the fields of autism, behaviour disorders, ADHD, depression, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, neurodegenerative diseases, and various orphan diseases;
5. promote, develop and expand awareness of the efficacy and power of individualised nutrient therapy;
6. prepare and publish information regarding research findings, clinical methods and outcomes, advanced laboratory assays, advanced treatment protocols, and the genetics, biophysics, and biochemistry of mental disorders; and
7. supplement or assist in the work of any school, college, university or institute in scientific research and the development of advanced treatment modalities.

Our next ‘Bio Science Education’ program will be on 7th May 2011

Dr Albert Mensah, received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois) and his medical degree from Finch University of Health Sciences-Chicago Medical School, and completed his residency in family medicine at Swedish Covenant Hospital (Chicago). Following his residency Dr Mensah completed additional fellowship training in academic development at JHS Cook County Hospital (Chicago). He practiced as a staff physician at Melrose Park Clinic (Illinois) and is an adjunct professor of clinical medicine at Malcolm X College (Chicago).

Dr Mensah continues his devotion to the education of medical professionals by serving as the current Medical Director of the Physician Assistant Program at Malcolm X College and has treated patients at the Pfeiffer Treatment Center, an organization rooted in the treatment of biochemical imbalances including children with autism. Answering the need for specialist with backgrounds in both traditional as well as orthomolecular medicine, Dr. Mensah cofounded Mensah Medical.

His current practice includes family medicine as well as the management of cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety syndromes, ADD/H and post-partum depression.Philosophy of Care: …“We are not given knowledge to rule over the world for the sake of power, but to have power for the sake of serving.Taking the time to educate our patients, their families, and the health care community at large is consistent with our directive to leave the universe a better place than when we came”.

Utopia’s next ‘Bio Science Education’ program will be on 6th May 2011 at 10:00 am

Katherine McCormick, CEO Utopia

“The Longitudinal Study of Australians Vulnerable to Homelessness will follow the lives of about 1500 people across Australia, interviewing them every six months over two years, and will analyse the contributing factors that lead to homelessness.”  AND… Senator Arbib said if there were inefficiencies or inadequacies in the system, it was important the government was able to address them quickly so people could get back on their feet as soon as possible. Early intervention was critical.

Well let me say this…it looks to me like the Government has spent far too much on ‘studies’ that keep going around in circles.

Is it, ‘jobs for the boys’ or ‘stretching out the pay cheques for government bureaucrats’? The Australian Government MUST know by now how to fill the ‘holes’ and if this study is over two years…how is that going to help current homeless people with ‘early intervention’, or the 1500 homeless people in the study?

Sorry Ms Gillard but what they need is housing and better diagnostic and mental health services, not a two year study.

Surly it’s time for some hard core action from the Government instead of selling of the land that should be used for mental health facilities. Patients at Royal North Shore Hospital will suffer due to “Labor’s planning incompetence”.

It’s not just the Labor Party…the Libs don’t have a very good record when it comes to mental health.

Have your say…

Clement Chan, Training and Development Assistant

Written by Clement Chan, Training and Development Assistant

Mental health doesn’t just affect the individual but it also affects the people and the communities around them. If we are to look at the costs, we can start at the individual and what they stand to lose. Financial and emotional costs are at the top of the list, as mental health hinders the individual’s ability to function properly at work usually leading to high levels of absenteeism or unemployment.

A lot of the times, people are forced to hide their sickness in the fear of discrimination or embarrassment. This has a direct impact on the emotional well being, as their problems are not being confronted but simply pushed under the rug.

Depression and anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia and most often, the individual is unaware of their condition. Without the proper treatment and recovery, many people suffer emotionally, usually leading to alcohol or drug abuse. In worst cases, this could lead to suicide.

The cost of this illness of course reflects onto the individual’s family as well. The pain and heartache of supporting someone through a mental illness is taxing not just mentally but financially as well. As mentioned above, the individual struggles at work hence becoming financially unstable. Their family or loved ones are usually the ones who will be there to pick up the slack, either pay their bills, loan repayments or medical expenses.

In the event of the person losing their life, the emotional cost is devastating and many people find it difficult to recover and move on. The overarching cost to the community for mental health sufferers is the burden it places on taxpayers and employers.

States and territories spent $3,323 million on mental health services in 2007-08 with 4.6 million Medicare claims for health professionals such as psychiatrists. This statistic is rising every year and is costing taxpayers billions of dollars. Employers also bear the cost, as a lot of mental health employees are not being properly treated or in some cases ignored. In these instances, there is a high rate of absenteeism, impacting on a companies salaries and productivity.

As a Gen Y, if these problems are not alleviated then we are going to be the ones who are going to pay for it literally.

There needs to be a shift in how we manage mental health patients, not just prescribe drugs but actually create the framework for recovery and rehabilitation. Hopefully Callan Park will offer that for the thousands who are suffering and ultimately reduce the costs created by mental health.

References: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/hse/88/11415.pdf

Esther Lee, Analytics Assistant to HRP

Written by Esther Lee, Analytics Assistant to HRP

Generation Y is also known as the ‘Net Generation’, since most of interaction and communication are done through the internet. Living in the 21st century, it is a big benefit to have technology that brings together people whenever and wherever they are.  However, many people often take an advantage of their anonymity online. Internet is one of the most powerful medium that is causing the increase of Generation Y suicide.

The anonymity in the online-world provides a protective shield for bullies. Behind this protective shield, they abuse their victims. Although the abuse is not physical nor contacting the victims face-to-face, cyber bullying torments the victims’ lives and lead them to suicide. With increasing use of social networks, cyber bullying also flourished.

For social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, which do not need extensive information upon registration, it is quite easy to make a fabricated account. Such incidences are not rare and certainly do need attention. A solution to barricade the bullies should be developed to stop further damage.

For example, one Korean social networking site asks specific personal details upon registration, including address, mobile phone number, and social security number, for prevention measures against cyber terror.

Another concern is that the advantage of anonymity can invite people to urge highly suicidal people. Rather than trying to comfort depressed suicidal people, some net users push those high-risk people into action without any guilt due to their anonymity.

Also, the growing number of websites that encourage suicide is also a danger. One site called ‘Church of Euthanasia’ advises in suicide methods and tells people to do a ‘good job’ when doing it. Another site (http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=suicide) actually persuades people that they are not wanted in this world and suicide is the answer to everything.

Just by skimming through these sites for research, it was enough to scare ‘normal-minded’ people.

However, those messages are more than powerful when read by people who are suffering from depression or other psychological disorders. Furthermore, some sites provide suicidal chatrooms where people make a pact to die together or to arrange for murder, which can also encourage ‘at-risk’ people to engage in action. To stop such chaos, there have been a number of bills and legislations to clean out the cyber space.

However, it is difficult to have a common law for all the countries and even checking out every single website would need enormous amount of money and human resources. So how would we solve this problem? We hope to find out soon, because if we don’t, Generation Y will be at risk of being extinct.

References:

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=suicide

http://www.churchofeuthanasia.org/