Citizens Commission on Human Rights says VA should stop telling veterans antidepressants fix a chemical imbalance in the brain, when research finds no scientific basis for that claim. Nearly two million veterans using VA health services take antidepressants, but the veteran suicide rate remains high.
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Veterans searching for treatment options for their mental health issues on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) website find information that says antidepressants – specifically, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) – are believed to put the brain chemical serotonin back in balance, and so treat mental health issues. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) says the theory has been soundly discredited by research and any suggestion of it should be taken off the website.
A 2021 comprehensive review of prior research on serotonin found no scientific basis for the theory that an imbalance of the brain chemical causes a mental health issue. If a chemical imbalance is not known to exist, the rationale for prescribing antidepressants is called into question.
“The VA should clean up its website by removing any reference to a chemical imbalance of the brain causing any mental health issue,” said Anne Goedeke, president of the National Affairs Office of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), an international mental health industry watchdog.
“Just the mention of this discredited theory suggests that it is a valid reason to take antidepressants, but there is no scientific validity to the theory,” she added.
Yet antidepressants continue to be prescribed to veterans as a first-line treatment for depression and post-traumatic stress, according to the VA website.
In response to a FOIA request by CCHR International, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) revealed that of the 9 million U.S. veterans enrolled with the VHA for health care services in 2019, 4.2 million – nearly half – were prescribed psychiatric drugs, with 1.75 million – one in five – prescribed antidepressants as treatment for mental health issues and suicide prevention.
Still, the rate of veteran suicides has risen over the past 20 years, remains high, and rose again in 2021, the most recent year for which data is available. The VA’s 2023 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report shows that the veteran suicide rate was 33.9 per 100,000 in 2021, up from 32.6 per 100,000 in 2020, despite the fact that half (49%) of the decedents had used VA health services. The suicide rate for veterans was twice the rate for non-veterans (16.7 per 100,000).
“It is clear from these findings that Veterans remain at elevated risk for suicide,” the report advises.
Studies have shown that antidepressants themselves carry the risk of serious side effects that include an increased risk of suicide. In 2004, the FDA ordered antidepressant labels to carry a black box warning concerning the increased risk of suicidal thinking and actions in children and teens. The warning was extended in 2007 to include young adults aged 18 to 24, an age range that includes many active-duty military and veterans.
Though the FDA has not yet extended the black box warning to all adults, evidence indicates it should. A 2016 study reviewed clinical trials in which non-depressed adults were given antidepressants and found that the drugs doubled the risk of suicide and violence. A 2018 study found that those who used antidepressants at any time during the 30-year span of the study nearly doubled their risk of more severe depression symptoms at the end of the time period.
Veterans deserve accurate information about mental healthcare options. CCHR says removing references to the discredited theory of a brain chemical imbalance causing mental health issues would be an important step in the right direction.
About the company: The Citizens Commission on Human Rights was co-founded in 1969 by members of the Church of Scientology and the late psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry Thomas Szasz, M.D., recognized by many academics as modern psychiatry’s most authoritative critic, to eradicate abuse and restore human rights and dignity to the field of mental health.
Contact Info:
Name: Anne Goedeke
Email: Send Email
Organization: Citizens Commission on Human Rights, National Affairs Office
Address: Washington, DC
Website: https://www.CCHRNational.org
Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F02HElsg8uI
Release ID: 89142692
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