DRUGGED OUT MENTALLY ILL AMERICA

Mental illness is a growing problem in America. Serious mental illness costs America around $193.2 billion a year in lost earnings (NAMI). Mood disorders such as depression are also the third most common cause of hospitalization in the U.S. for adults between the ages of 18-44 (NAMI).

According to data from the IMS, Vector One: National (VONA) and Total Patient Tracker (TPT) Database, somewhere around ten percent of Americans were on a psychiatric drug in the year 2014 (CCHR). And according to the New York Times, one in five Americans will take at least one psychiatric medication in their life, and one in four suffer from mental illness. In 2015, the U.S. represented 40% of the world's global pharmaceutical market, and this share of the market was $413 billion dollars. (Statista)

Americans also have a very high rate of using opioids. In terms of a legal pill addiction, America consumes 80% of the world's pain pills (Daily Mail).


WORLDWIDE AVAILABILITY OF NARCOTIC DRUGS FOR MEDICAL USE

 

USE OF DRUGS IN AMERICA IN 2015

(In the thousands)

(Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration)

(The number for alcohol is only for binge drinking and heavy use)

 

DEATHS CAUSED IN AMERICA DIRECTLY FROM DRUG USE IN 2014

(Homicides and indirect causes of death not included)

(Source: Drugwarfacts.com)


LARGE NUMBERS OF AMERICANS ADDICTED TO ALCOHOL

ALCOHOL AS THE TOP KILLER DRUG

According to CBS, more than 30% of Americans have abused alcohol or have suffered from alcoholism at some point in their lives. In 2015, it was reported that 26.9 % of American adults engaged in binge drinking, and 7% engaged in heavy alcohol use. In terms of college students in 2015, 37.9 % engaged in binge drinking, and 12.5% of college students reported heavy alcohol use. (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism)

Also, nearly 88,000 people die in America from Alcohol related deaths each year (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism). (That number may be different than the one in our chart because we did not include homicides and indirect causes of death involving alcohol).

 

MENTALLY ILLNESS AND MASS SHOOTERS

The large number of mentally ill and drug addicted people in America may be connected to the increasing number of mass shooters. While the reasons for mass shootings are multifaceted, a large number of shooters have been reported to be on psychiatric drugs at some point in their lifetime. According to CCHR, at least 34 school shootings/or school related acts of violence have been committed by people withdrawing from psychiatric drugs.

There was a study published in the NCBI that has more information: Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of American Firearms

 

DRUGGING AND MENTAL ILLNESS AMONG CHILDREN

In 2014, somewhere around 6.4 million American children were diagnosed with ADHD (that's 11% of American children). According to the National Institute of Mental Health, as many as 10,000 toddlers may be on psychostimulant medication, like methylphenidate (Ritalin) (NIMH)(New York Times). The latest estimate from the National Center for Health Statistics reports that 7.5 % of U.S. children between ages 6 and 17 were taking medication for “emotional or behavioral difficulties” in 2011-2012 (NIMH)(NCBI). The CDC reports a five-fold increase in the number of children under 18 on psychostimulants from 1988-1994 to 2007–2010. (NIMH)(CDC).

According to the Huffington Post, as of 2010, there were 2.5 million American children having their ADHD symptoms treated with Ritalin, which is a 1600% increase from the 1970's. The other alarming fact to consider here is that the drug Ritalin has a lot of similarities to cocaine in terms of chemical structure and function. In fact, children who are taken off of Ritalin in adulthood are more likely to use and abuse cocaine. Since a child's brain is still growing and developing, taking Ritalin during childhood has the capacity to cause permanent changes in a person's brain structure. According to the University of Utah Genetics Center, some of the children who take Ritalin may be more likely to develop depression as adults. Their brains may become more desensitized to natural rewards like food, romance and social interaction, which increases their chances of developing depression. So overdrugging children could definitely lead to mental illness and further problems later on.

 

RELEVANT LINKS

MENTAL ILLNESS IN AMERICA

Reports

America's State of Mind: Medco Report (PDF)

Mental Illness Fact Sheet (PDF)

Total Number of People Taking Psychiatric Drugs in the United States (CCHR)

Results from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health:
Detailed Tables
(SAMHSA)

 

News

Why More Americans Suffer From Mental Disorders Than Anyone Else (The Atlantic, 10-4-11)

 

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

A maker of deadly painkillers is bankrolling the opposition to legal marijuana in Arizona (The Washington Post, 9-12-16)

Legal opioid history: From 'wonder drug' to abuse epidemic (CNN, 5-12-16)

A Dry Pipeline for Psychiatric Drugs (New York Times, 8-19-13)

Big Pharma and the Gates Foundation: “Guinea Pigs for the Drugmakers” (Global Research, 5-28-14)

7 Drugs Whose Dangerous Risks Emerged Only After Big Pharma Made Its Money (Alternet, 1-2-14)

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans Take Prescription Drugs, Mayo Clinic, Olmsted Medical Center Find (News Network, 6-19-13)

Rising painkiller addiction shows damage from drugmakers’ role in shaping medical opinion (The Washington Post, 12-30-12)

My son is schizophrenic. The ‘reforms’ that I worked for have worsened his life. (Washington Post, 10-15-12)

The hidden costs of over prescribing drugs (Aljazeera, 8-24-12)

Americans consume EIGHTY percent of the world's pain pills as prescription drug abuse epidemic explodes (Daily Mail, 5-10-12)

 

MASS SHOOTERS AND PILLS

Elliot Rodger, like nearly all young killers, was taking psychiatric drugs (Xanax) (Natural News, 6-3-14)

Guns, Mental Illness and Newtown (The Wall Street Journal, 12-18-12)

The Connecticut massacre and America's estrangement from reality (Aljazeera, 12-17-12)

Another School Shooting, Another Psychiatric Drug? Federal Investigation Long Overdue (Citizens Commission On Human Rights International, 7-20-12)

 

THE DRUGGING OF CHILDREN

Over 10,000 American Toddlers Are Being Given ADHD Drugs (Alliance for Natural Health)

Forced Drugging and Special Services: (Psych Rights PDF)

Forced Drugging of Children in Foster Care: (Pysch Rights PDF)

The Business of ADHD (PBS)

Attention Disorder or Not, Pills to Help in School (New York Times)

Forced Drugging of Kids Needs to Stop (Lawyers and Settlements)

Drugging Our Kids (Cross Roads Institute)