Mental Health : Exploitation

When Big Pharma Exploits Mental Health

 There are mental illnesses that can't be fixed ... maybe, without medicines You know the medicine fixes the issue once, or twice ... or three times. And then all of a sudden on the fourth time or the fifth time ...   the ... medicine doesn't work any more and the issue just gets worse, because ... you know, they never addressed the problems in the first place, and so ... They just get put on more medicine until they're no longer ... themselves [sigh]   "If you're one of the millions who experience anxiety" "and your symptoms have lasted more than six months" "it may be a sign of depression."

 "It's a serious medical condition that affects more than 20 million Americans "Antidepressants help relieve the symptoms of depression Narrator: Spring 2015, New York Denis Mikhailov, a former office clerk from Manhattan sets a new Guinness record for continuous running; having covered 129 kilometres in 12 hours Observers: "7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1" *Cheers*   We got the record guys! Those are all, almost all, different medications that I've been on.

But our story starts with this guy I was very lucky when I think I barely passed the English test So I got accepted into business school It was huge for a guy from a small town in Russia – I didn't live in Moscow, or any large city at all – to come to the United States, completely different culture. And, uh, for me it was eye-opening experience Because I learned about the world of finance ... the way that the world works The company that I was working for they were doing what was called, "Healthcare Communications".

 Which in reality was advertising for the huge pharmaceutical companies Whenever they came up with a new drug, or have the existing drug they would come up some new ways to advertise it all around the world Ad narrator: "I don't want to live with depression" "I want to enjoy life again" "I feel this pain constantly" "This guilt is always with me" "Depression may be a result of a chemical imbalance in your brain "Tell your doctor about your problems and ask for a prescription." "There's no need for you to feel bad any more." It's 10 pm now on Friday I'm looking at this building, on the 8th floor Something tells me that my boss is still there because usually Friday night before heading home for the weekend we have to wrap something up and, you know, another long day at work Not really missing that part of it: Staying in the office for 10 hours a day Denis now has a new view of his former job A few years ago his life changed drastically.

 And he has his reasons to help us make this film [TV news in background] This guy's name is Matt [more TV news] Today he leaves his parents' house to go surfing It's his life What you gotta do is just go down the hill and make a right. Cameraman: OK. Matt: And then we're right there Cameraman: OK, we will catch you like in 10 minutes.Matt: Yeah, come on Matt: You can meet all the crew Matt: Come on down Matt: When I was, I think, 11 or 12 years old I was put on a drug called Accutane which ... was an acne medicine that ... blocked the ... vitamin D So that your skin would be ... not as oily.

 I guess, I dunno Unfortunately the by-product of that drug ... is that it caused, like, severe depression. People who surrounded me in Russia while I was growing up Nobody was taking any kind of drugs, And here, I was surprised to hear, or see, even young people taking some kind of pills to improve mood or, to get more energy. I wasn't sure what was going on. And then when I got involved in this ... world of pharmaceuticals I saw this huge array of different drugs, geared to different people to treat different conditions. Most of which I'd never heard of before I'll never forget where I'm like in a room And it's all mirrors and I'm wearing this like ... Red and black chequered hooded coat And, you have to take these tests sat at the metal desk, with the metal chair in the mirrored room So you can't see anything but you in the room And then they take the paper away And the like observe your behaviour, post. And like, obviously, if you have nothing to do and you're a 12-year-old kid you're gonna be like messing around with whatever, and so And then they're like, "Yeah ... "Well, based on his behavioural pattern ..." "He has ADHD or adds" or whatever So they're like, "OK, let's put you on ... Ritalin." Denis: I should be fair here, We were coming up with really engaging and interesting advertising so that we would really make you think about taking this product Woman: Hello Ecuador from Times Square, we love you!

 In a way, it was a very creative work that the agencies were doing I was doing only the financial part of it so I wasn't involved in the creative process But I could see what was going on and I was, uh ... I saw the final, the end product of the work that they were doing Olivia: Here's the Vyvanse What is that? Antibiotics. What is this? Oh here's the Seroquel Concerta literally has the word "Amphetamine" in it OK, these were all prescribed at the teenage children's hospital when he left Olivia's mother: And it seems like when kids have problems in school, automatically the teacher wants to give them drugs You know for years she wouldn't even do it. You know and when she finally does it, it's like ...Olivia: All hell breaks loose.Yeah. I had a lady today referring to the medication as "homework pills" Mother: Homework? Olivia: Homework "pills". She said, "We're gonna switch your homework pills to when you get home from school." 

And that's the one he was on for just a week because it literally made him into a zombie. It was crazy. You know they always say that they want to reunify kids with their parents. It's not their goal to keep the kids from their parents, but ... When I worked in the children's system ... They did everything they possible to make it hard on the parents to get their kids back. Like tonight, I had to drive an hour and a half just to see my son. Denis, I met somebody who I got really close to on a personal level And, uh, this person shared her story with me Which was ... pretty dramatic She um, she was taking ... pretty hardcore psychotropic drugs, by prescription, since pretty early age And she really got me engaged in this, uh, the research I never took it seriously before, because I didn't have any personal experience But being with someone who, um ... Who depends on those drugs. Who doesn't just know a lot about them, but physically depends on them um, got me really involved? Alright, no luck yet.

 The struggle with addiction. I did it for 40 years I actually had to go to a rehab I got kicked out after two weeks And my wife and I were on the run for 6 months We went turned ourselves in and got ourselves straight And now we're doing good. Took years to become an addict. Takes a long time to get rid of them. So I just think that like that society is no longer trying to push children and people to accept the problems that they have inside themselves That they're pushed to take this pill and it will all go away [Wind chimes] Amy: Right here he was fine This was before; he was sitting with our second in his lap This picture, yeah, he was fine This is after Um, about 2 years after. You can see his wrist is twisted in the picture. This was last year at my brother's wedding He was able to hold our youngest daughter for just a few minutes. So you've to go to that picture. His wrists are twisted, that's the dystonia And up here in this picture was last father's days, his wrist in that ... He was able to hold our baby for a few minutes, for the picture So when we watch TV, he paces behind the couch Um, for a lot of the time [Child protesting] Narrator: This is Josh, his wife, Amy and their five children So basically what I do on a daily basis is ... I just pace. And I pace and I pace and I pace ... And I don't ever get relief from pacing, but ... It's the only thing I can do. If I don't pace and I sit it makes everything a lot worse. And the pain inside ... gets worse my movements to get worse when I have to sit still or even stand still so pacing to me is pretty important. It's the only thing I can do.

 I started a new job and I was feeling some anxiety, um ... a little depressed so that's when I got on Effexor And ... a few days after that is when I started feeling that inner pain feeling that I had to get out of my own skin [Dog yaps] [Electronic Music] Denis: So, my personal interest in seeing this doctor is that A few years ago I fell in love with a person who was addicted to psychotropic drugs and Dr Peter Breggin is one of the very few people very few specialists who is a licensed psychiatrist who has experience of almost 50 years He never prescribes the psychotropic drugs to his clients He's one of the very few people in the United States, if not the world, who knows how to do it correctly. Most importantly, how to break the addiction without doing even greater damage to the person. So I think we are all going to learn something very valuable today. After we see this doctor in about 1 hour. Um, we even got him, like a hospital bed Where he can like, raise it up so he can have his legs in the air Because that's how he comfortably slept My mom didn't know how long you guys were going to be here ... Cameraman: Indistinct question That's ah, his name is Si. He's from a redneck type reality show. Cameraman: [Indistinct] Cameraman: Redneck reality show?Olivia: [laughs] Yeah   Cameraman: Thank youOlivia: Mm-hmm [Crashing surf] And so the parent naturally wants to go, like, "I wanna help my kid". And then ... The doctors like, "I can help your kid. I can give them a pill." (Or her a pill.) "And that pill's gonna make them happier" And they're not actually making that kid understand anything Other than, "rather than deal with who I am as a human being, and in my soul and in my spirit". I'm gonna take this pill so that I don't have to learn about myself Chris: I was a, uh, I was a punk rocker. And, uh ... I was a, what do you call it, a gutter punk and basically lived on the streets just doing whatever I wanted to do Narrator: This is Chris. Once a heroin addict He's now hooked on medication He came to see us with his girlfriend, Irene This is his parent’s house The room that he lives in and has to deal with his akathisia and everything ... was so small that we couldn't fit two more people in ... to film in there. That's how small of a place he lives in. [car radio noise] Erm This pill, I have to take it every 8 hours. So 3 times a day. Cameraman: And yellow one, what's the name of the yellow one? Chris: Gabapentin.Cameraman: White one? Irene: Ativan, 2 milligrams and a 0.5. Feeling depressed? We have something that might help Check with your doctor. Go to your doctor and ask for "ba", whatever the drug is... One of the things we've become expert at is how they manipulate the results. To make it so that, it doesn't look like there was much suicidality, for instance, Um ... I always thought that people who killed themselves were weird [cries] But I can't live another day like this And I almost killed myself last week. [wind chimes] [squeaky swings and sounds of children] I find my self doing things and saying things that I don't mean Um, It's almost like there's someone else living inside of me like, controlling my body and my thoughts and the things I say One of the documents that we got while we were working on some suicidal behaviour drugs for serotonin re-uptake inhibitors One of their internal scientists, Roger Lane, said: "It's not so much that they're committing suicide, "their death is a welcome alternative" "to how uncomfortable it is to go through akathisia" That document does not get placed in the medical journals. Doesn't get placed on TV.

 Doesn't get placed in radio ads or ... newspaper ads, or magazine ads. But, that is a documented scientist inside one of these major pharmaceutical companies Saying that "We have a problem here" Concerta Risperdol Vyvance Adderall Hydroxyzine ... for anxiety Zoloft Reperdol He was also given Hydrocodone for pain and then Oxycodone for pain And, um ... Ativan, of course. I was hoping that you guys came down earlier today [Cameraman laughs] So when I ... got off the drug and ... wanted to, like, give blood to ... you know help people, or whatever, to not die [indistinct] It's like you couldn't give blood after taking Accutane for 6 years After taking that drug So that gives you an indication of how strong that drug is 6 years you couldn't give blood. Because of what that does to your blood system and like whatever, you know... Sucks. In the next room: I'm leaving, you want me to take her? Alright, I'll leave Gail and I've got Sheri A real therapy dog, huh? Dr Breggin: I tell stories about my dogs And the patients, especially children... Dr Breggin: She's 13Denis: Wow She's a sweetheart What do you think? She doesn't see much, Doesn't hear much But she smells really good, she'd smell that a mile away.

We know from monkey studies just how the amphetamines work when we give them to children. Give them to monkeys, the monkeys stop socialising, they stop hugging and kissing, they stop trying to escape from their cages. They become good caged animals. So we're making good caged children in our schools. But the parents don't get this. And he said, "I feel like I can't stop shuffling my feet" It's hard to explain. It feels like, um ... Like there's ... Like I'm being persecuted, like, ah ... Like I'm being tortured in a torture chamber but it's happening inside of my body So there's nowhere ... there's nowhere to run I was always brought up to trust doctors 

A lot of people say that "Trust doctors, they know what they're doing" Until you find out that they don't And from there it's just a snowball effect When you're hurt by something, a medication, especially Doctors almost become ... ah, defensive When you're trying to tell them things like this And their only answer is to try more drugs and try more drugs and try more drugs And it's just, it's scariness And it's tiring. If you don't go to your psychiatrist they get offended. because they have feet of sand.

They're selling a false product So they get very angry as a group There are always exceptions, but as a group they get angry They might even lock you up for wanting to come off your psychiatric drugs But they do get paid, I mean they do get paid per kid, per ... household, whatever, so ... I don't know how that all works, but it's a system all in itself. So who gets paid for it? So, the poor, the disadvantaged, um ... foster children, Medicaid pays for it. That's a governmental agency that pays for medications for people who can't, children, people who can't afford it. Ah, older and people who are 65 and older, Medicare pays for it. Ah, military people, Tricare pays for it Prisoners, our tax dollars pay for it. If there is an avenue for a flow of income, the flow of money   To pay for the medication, that's where there will be ah, people prescribe these drugs in a massive way And they make so much money from it that they are then able to use that as part of campaigns with legislators and with insurance companies to see to it that they get even more prescriptions done. It's quite an operation We were pregnant with our fifth child when this happened And he couldn't hold our newborn because his hands are moving so much Trying to live this way, um... Like what she said, my kids ... 

They on a daily basis, my kids will ask me to play with them ... Um [sighs]... So many times where I have to say, "I can't play with you" and it hurts As a father that really hurts I just can't believe it I just can't believe that my life has taken this turn. This is not how ...  I ever expected my life would be. I always had plans in my head for the kind of husband and father I'd be, and ... and it just I feel like that's all been taken from me, that's all been stolen from me Barbara Ann, that's my wife of 30 years and she had 3 strokes, passed away, they brought her back and now she's been in a rest home, been there about 5 years It's a 2003 Powerstroke With a 7.3 diesel in it Wake up every morning, have breakfast with my dad and all them, So, you know, can't really ask for much more than that Just havin' fun and ... just livin' the dream There are four girls right here young horses Cameraman chuckles Hi girls This one's just a yearling. 

This one here is pregnant She just arrived from Spain not too long ago They're always ready   Doing the things every day that are kind of repetitive but important, like washing the dishes and you know. Taking care of the horses is like that. It takes a lot of dedication, and ... You have to really self, motivate yourself, to get up early in the morning You know, do what needs to be done Cos it's a lot of heavy work and ... Moving 'em around, riding, exercise You know, healthcare But they just return so much, they just give their hearts so completely to you And I just get so much satisfaction out of it OK, go ahead ... this top step is a little tall So, you go ahead first, yah. Sorry, it's so small, but [inaudible]   [jumbled] Debborah: My bedroom [laughs] I realised she could detect my seizures She could predict my seizures So I got her certified as my service dog And she travelled with me everywhere for, like, 5 years.

 And she would tell me, she would alert me before I had a seizure and I would have time to get with someone, to sit down, you know, be somewhere safe And so she's pretty amazing But she's upset now because, for over a year, she doesn't have a job It was always more, never less. They told me my akathisia was ... "agitated depression" That my depression was turning into bipolar as they said was quite common "Oh, just needs more meds, new meds" All due to the fact that I was raped as a child And never dealt with it. It was always pushed back And when my parents first put me on drugs It was so ... They were so relieved to see she's a problem We don't have to do anything, it's not our fault. She's crazy and all that. So I finally got so fed up, I decided myself that I would get off Well, I found that it wasn't quite so easy Sometimes we were desperate Sometimes we just fell in despair because we had the feeling that maybe she would never feel like a human again without the drugs I mean, she was still developing, her brain was still developing, when she took her first psychotropic drugs. She was a teenager and ... we didn't know if it would be possible for her to ever live without them So it was really hard to find a specialist who would help to move in that direction But we did find some information We learned about tapering. We learned about the correct way of getting off these drugs And basically, it's the same as getting off any kind of street drugs, or smoking, or alcohol the same idea And so I basically lived my life drugged out I fought to do anything It was either, too up, too down, too this, too that...

 Those drugs are so horribly addictive When I tried to get off them myself It was an experience that I couldn't relay to anybody You have to go slowly, it's really important if you've been on a psychiatric drug especially multiple drugs, for months or years I've written a book about it. It's called, "Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal" So, I found Peter Breggin's book "Withdrawal from Psychiatric Medications" and I followed it to a tee I took all my 7 medications I just shaved off a little piece of one every day and it took me over a year and I finally got off of everything Cameraman: Is this from Star Wars? Both: Yes! Cameraman: Nice This is a 2 milligram this is a half a milligram And I take So I take both of these 3 times a day So, it's seven and a half milligrams Um, and, uh... By shaving it down I've gotten down to about [sighs]Half a milligram In ... Maybe, 5 months So [voice cracking]It's a very very long, slow process And, um ... And this is only one medication I have ... I have, uh ... I have ... Two other medications to ... Get off of 

Some of the documents we have, it's like, "Why is this important?" Like withdrawal Some drugs, when you get on them it's very difficult to get off them because they change the architecture of the brain When the drugs are taken away, people think that their depression is returning When actually, they're going through withdrawal just like you would if you were withdrawing from cocaine or withdrawing from heroin It's withdrawal For, these companies it was a big deal to not, um ... some of these companies to not have the withdrawal be a feature in the labelling We were really drawn to each other on some emotional level. It wasn't because of drugs that, um that we were together was something probably something deeper, but ... As with any addiction Street drugs, or alcohol addiction, or whatever addiction, gambling ... any addiction makes a relationship really hard and it took a huge toll on us. So ... We couldn't hold it together because of, uh ... because of this, but ... We did last for three years And we, every single day one way or another this topic was coming out: What do we do today to make the addiction better? To make the side ... To make the withdrawal symptoms better. To make her feel like a human again.

 My bike I kind of consider being a lifesaver in a way, um ... The one thing I can do, I'm comfortable doing outside is getting on my bike and riding it, um ... It helps because on my bike I'm constantly pedalling So I'm always ... moving. My legs are always moving, so it helps I'm sitting but I'm moving And I enjoy it. I can get out and I can move around So, normally everything inside my body feels like it's going a million miles an hour. And I feel like I don't have any control over anything in my life. Nothing. But when I get on my bike I have control of my bike You know, I feel like I have control of my bike of something.

 The bike definitely helps a lot And, I like to go at night because there's not a lot of people outside at night And I can just be by myself and not have to worry about running into people That helps a lot too. That takes a lot of the worry and the stress off This is what horses do for me Cameraman: Really nice Camerman: Kind of a bodybuilder Yeah, and that makes you feel good And that kind of happened surprisingly One day I'm like, "Oh!" And even in the back, I'm proud because I'm 61 And most of the women I know that are 61 You know, they're like couch potatoes Cameraman: So you're looking at the waves yeah? Yeah [indistinguishable] ... and this is Topanga, right here. [indistinguishable] ... Cameraman: A lot of people Obviously, If I wasn't ... in the sea and wasn't participating in the ocean I think you never get rid of it. I think that that's the ... that's the ... the thing that the parents ... and society ... and doctors, and psychologists, and things don't ... maybe don't understand.

 There are no lifetime studies I mean one of the more recent approvals in the FDA of a stimulant for, so-called, ADHD was 3 weeks long So then you're gonna say give it for months or years, or a lifetime? And why are the studies only 3 months long? They're all neurotoxins So after a few weeks the patients get worse So you can't carry the studies beyond a few weeks. This is such a giant fraud.

 I am just in shock that it continues on and on All the research, all the long term studies – which are people like me – There were no long term studies in the beginning when those drugs were approved. I'm the long term study I was affected horribly by those drugs, they never helped me It was all a mistake. I should have never been put on drugs I should have been nurtured a little bit by my parents and not told I'm a reject and I deserve what I got and it was all my fault And I'm just not like everybody else in the family; defective When those parents put those kids on the drugs.

They're teaching those children that there’s something wrong with them That's something that's instilled in there ... and they will likely never get over that: "They're defective" They need a pill to fix them You know every human being on the earth has their issues And children, when they go through a trauma like that, Huh, what do they need? TLC, understanding, someone to take them by the hand and tell them it wasn't their fault "This is how you get through it, you be strong" You don't just take a pill and forget about it It's just ridiculous to meIt's laziness on the parents' part 

And not enough concern to look into the facts And see what happens to these kids long term – it's not a good outcome in any way It never helps. Chris' mom: How he was? Well ... He was a very happy young, young child And when he hit about 4 or 5 he started to become very rebellious, um ... We tried to deal with it the best way that we could And when he hit about 4 or 5 And it just kind of you know, the kind of ... "You can't make me do this" And anything we would say, he would be argumentative about it. Um ... "You can't make me do this" We spent a lot of time with him as a child My husband and I worked opposite shifts And so one of us was almost always with him Um ... My husband and I worked opposite shifts You know it just kind of escalated as he got older When he was about ... in 4th grade, he started having a lot of trouble in school.

 So we started seeing a psychologist and ... um ... He would not talk To the doctors We tried to do family counselling and things like that and he just, he wouldn't talk He said that we didn't love him That was what he always told the doctors That was his problem, that we didn't love him That was his perception That he was not loved And he never did open up to the doctors We did put him on Ritalin in 4th grade For 1 year. 

And we took him off. And that 1 year he was having a lot of trouble It seemed to help from our perspective The next year we took him off So he took it for, what, not even a year. Probably 8 or 9 months He didn't want to follow our rules, um ... He was smoking and drinking and experimenting with drugs He didn't have a lot of friends He didn't get good grades and he was doing drugs and he wasn't responsible So we didn't give him a lot of privileges.

 And the other kids got a lot of privileges And that was another thing, he saw just that and thought it was unfair But they were always good students and well behaved and, um ... And like I said, saw what he missed out and were determined ... not to go down that same road. It was a good education for the other two, Yeah and I don't know. I honestly don't know what ... created the issues that we had with him No we don't. Obviously, we didn't do anything Cameraman: OK. 

You know there's something missing in his life, from us But, I can't see that ... I can't see what we did [Door slams]There now see he's mad at what I just said. Something I said ... set him off, just now Where did you go? Where are you? set him off, just now Where did you go? I know, but where? Which way?   I said OK I know, but where? Which way?   I said OK                             There is hope, there's always hope.     There is hope, there's always hope.         and that's a relief for me. To have control ... I don't know, I'd be dead Because the drugs don't work