This Is One Deadly Side Effect You Need To Know

Photo courtesy of Arek Socha from Pixabay

“It’s your life. Don’t let others tell you how to live it.” Anonymous

The 11th anniversary of a dear friend’s suicide and funeral are rapidly approaching. Keith was a lovely man, a beautiful, gentle soul, by all accounts, happy-go-lucky, easygoing and good-natured. Deeply sensitive, he was a brilliant artist, an animal lover, and extremely sentimental. And sadly, he also became a suicide statistic.

He was not prone to depression until a few months prior when work troubles, health issues and family problems began to take their toll. He wasn’t in a terrible state, just feeling down and unable to shake it off. What he really needed was a counsellor, someone with whom he could talk through his concerns and from whom he could learn to shift his perspective and find coping strategies.

So he did what many people do. First stop, the GP, figuring the doctor would guide him to the best course of action. 

And as happens all too often, instead of suggesting a counsellor or otherwise helping him find a way to deal with his temporary stresses, the doctor wrote a prescription for anti-depressants. He handed it to Keith without a word about possible side effects.

Within a couple of weeks, Keith told his young wife that he didn’t feel right, he “felt numb, didn’t feel anything at all.” Convinced the meds were to blame, he wanted to go off them right away. His doctor said to give it more time for them to work.

But by then, suicidal ideation had begun. And thinking something was wrong with him, Keith was afraid to admit it.

This was a first for Keith. Never in his life had a suicidal thought entered his mind. Never had he uttered a word about wishing himself to be dead. Not until he took Citralopram (also known as Celexa, Cipramil or Lexapro). 

After one failed suicide attempt with pills, he spent only a couple of days in hospital. He had successfully convinced everyone that it was an accident and he did not intend to die. Given how many pills he had taken, it was astonishing that they believed him. Even more shockingly, he was released with almost no follow-up. Eleven days later, he sat in his doctor’s office for a five-minute check-up, during which she later reported that he was “chirpy” and seemed fine.

But just hours later, his wife found him hanging in the stairway of their home.

For several years, this drug has been widely reported to cause suicide. In fact, suicide after taking Citralopram has become such a prevalent problem in children and teens that it is no longer given to anyone under the age of 18. 

Prozac is another anti-depressant known to cause suicides and as far back as 2004, there were studies that indicated in children and teens, it carried a 50% higher risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts than those who took placebos. Mirtazapine is another anti-depressant that can cause suicide, especially in anyone under the age of 24.

This is not an exhaustive list. But I’m sure you get my point.

There is some suggestion that Citralopram tends to cause sudden suicide by hanging. In 2010, Yvonne Woodley, mother of two, felt worse after taking Citralopram. Her children were downstairs watching television when she disappeared into the attic and hanged herself. 

In 2003, Timothy “Woody” Witczak began taking Zoloft (in the same class of drugs as Citralopram, but not the same one). Five weeks later, with no warning he took his life. 

His widow, Kim, told me that he had always been an inspirational pillar of the community; he was always upbeat and positive. Upcoming work challenges had led to insomnia, which was the only reason he was prescribed Zoloft. Five weeks later, his dosage was doubled and shortly afterward, his wife found him hanging in the garage. 

According to Baum Hedlund Law:

“He experienced extreme nervousness, agitation, depersonalization and a condition known as akathisia. Akathisia is a neurological condition that causes extreme internal restlessness and psychological turmoil.”

In an effort to prevent similar unnecessary suffering and deaths, Kim created a website, WoodyMatters, “an independent voice in the everyday world championing for drug safety, pharma transparency and consumer rights...”

For starters, the banner on WoodyMatters says this:

“An estimated 128,000 Americans die each year as a result of taking medications as prescribed and is the fourth leading cause of death among Americans. (*Source: Thomas Moore, Institute of Safe Medication Practices.)”

The website also says this:

“WoodyMatters is not anti-medication. We are pro informed choice and transparency. It is important that as a society we have access to unbiased honest information about the prescription drugs that we take. It can be the difference between life and death.”

Accountability

There have been lawsuits by shocked and grieving family members who have attempted to make someone accountable, yet governments are still allowing doctors to prescribe these potentially deadly medications — and no one is insisting that patients be told of this possible side effect.

At the time of Keith’s failed attempt, the hospital and the doctor should have known about suicide being a side effect of this drug, and that his one unsuccessful attempt could very well mean there would be another — and one that he would be sure to get right. They should have known that his cheerful smile just eleven days after an attempt on his own life was a big, red flag, as suicidal people become happy when they’ve worked out a plan and they know relief is imminent.

It’s bad enough that this lovely man was released from hospital so soon, that there was virtually no follow-up, that he was told he couldn’t see a counsellor for three months, that every medical professional he saw — from the writing of the prescription to the day of his death — chose to ignore the potential and the warning signs for this terrible tragedy.

And of course, it is horrific to think about him having taken his own life. But it is too much to bear, thinking that if he hadn’t taken this bloody drug, he would, in all likelihood, still be alive.

How many more deaths will it take before pharmaceutical companies stop producing drugs that kill people? Before governments stop allowing these prescriptions? Before doctors and other health care professionals realise that just because the risk may be small, it is still too great if there is any potential at all? 

Or that at the very least, how long before they make it abundantly clear to their patients that there is a risk of suicidal ideation?  

How many more people need to die before doctors are compelled to try safer options first — like counselling or CBT? Before they thoroughly discuss this danger and pay more attention to their patients who say, “I’m not feeling right because of this drug, get me off the damned pills!”?

When will people start finding other ways to resolve their depression, or treat their anxiety? What about self-help? What about psychologists who help people deal with emotional issues that cause depression and anxiety? What about addressing the reason for the depression and not just masking the symptoms??

What about alternative treatments like mindfulness and meditation, or seeking the services of qualified practitioners of reiki, acupuncture, homeopathy, CBT, EFT, and others? When will we stop popping pills in a futile attempt to fix problems caused by our fast-paced, high-pressure culture? 

When will we take our well-being into our own hands, instead of listening to doctors and automatically swallowing their advice, never questioning, never seeking alternatives, just blindly accepting their authority and thinking they know bloody everything? Because as a homeopath and alternative healer since the mid-1990s, I can assure you, they don’t!

There are countless other safer, more effective ways to treat disease — and especially depression and anxiety — than conventional medicine.

In my own practice as a classical homeopath, I’ve seen suicidal depression lifted in a day or two. At times, even within two hours. Even in my work as an energy healer, although it can take a couple of days, I’ve done it within 15–20 minutes. 

Money, power and ego run the conventional medical community and its affiliates such as pharmaceutical companies. I don’t think those are very good reasons to listen to their advice — not without asking a million questions, not without a thorough investigation of options, not without making absolutely certain that it really is the best course of action.

As a culture, we have given up our power to medical professionals and their authority. For more reasons than just this tragic suicide — and so many others — it is well past time we took back our power.

It begins with managing our lives better, creating balance and ensuring our mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. It begins with looking at what isn’t working in our lives and finding solutions that improve our overall health and happiness. It begins self-awareness, and learning to trust ourselves and our inner wisdom to know what’s right for us. 

Only when we stop handing over our power — in all areas of life — will we create happier, healthier, more joyful lives. 

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For your own healing journey, click here for a remote healing session (by donation) with me.

Spiritual Arts Mentor and Master Teacher, Liberty Forrest, guides you in discovering who you are, why you’re here, and how to follow that path.

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