We must enact change!
The Joint Commission on Health Care needs to continue to identify methods to raise awareness of risks related to the mental and physical side effects of psychiatric medications. Current world-wide epidemics exist in misdiagnosed ADHD, Bipolar, Schizophrenia, Major Depressive Disorder and Autism according to the Architect of the Mental Health Manual (DSM-5).
*Misdiagnosis is costly and takes funding away from those with valid mental illnesses like Bipolar, Autism,
minimal brain dysfunction /ADHD and others.
*It endangers lives and places a strain on state budgets
Factors fueling the rise of misdiagnosed childhood mental illnesses
Careless medical practices and pharmaceutical influence
80% of psychiatric drugs are prescribed by primary care doctors after a seven-minute visit, with little experience in the field and influenced by drug salesmen
*Nearly 85 to 100% of the doctors and editors on DSM-5 had financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry which connects patients to harmful phychiatric medications. *Medicaid patient 2/3 increased diagnosis Solutions *Better trained doctors given accurate info. concerning pharmaceutical medications and weakened DSM criteria *Caution when seeking mental health diagnosis due to DSM weakening according to Dr. Frances. *Awareness: ADHD medications are gateway drug to heroin; prescription and antipsychotic drugs are third leading cause of death |
Manual of Mental Health Disorders
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Unbalanced schedules due to
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Now 6.4 million children in the US diagnosed with ADHD and over 65% taking psycho stimulants
Side effects caused increasing numbers to end up in jails (1/3), state hospitals,
juvenile detention centers (85%), or to be placed on Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security Disability
due to aggression and brain atrophy leaving them unable to care for themselves
The Justice Department has recovered billions of dollars from pharmaceutical companies for false claims and side effects surrounding these drugs
Military, firefighters, state troopers, police, FBI, DOJ, CIA and first responders are all significantly down in male recruits; less males going to college; companies struggling to find new hires in heating and A/C, plumbing and
other hands-on jobs
Side effects caused increasing numbers to end up in jails (1/3), state hospitals,
juvenile detention centers (85%), or to be placed on Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security Disability
due to aggression and brain atrophy leaving them unable to care for themselves
The Justice Department has recovered billions of dollars from pharmaceutical companies for false claims and side effects surrounding these drugs
Military, firefighters, state troopers, police, FBI, DOJ, CIA and first responders are all significantly down in male recruits; less males going to college; companies struggling to find new hires in heating and A/C, plumbing and
other hands-on jobs
- 3 year initiative Research/writing report on The ADHD Epidemic and other misdiagnosed mental illnesses
- House Joint Study Resolution 682 placed in Joint Commission on Health Care https://budget.lis.virginia.gov/item/2017/1/HB1500/Enrolled/1/30/
- scroll down to see report and more at bottom of "Home" page
- Advisory Board for the Virginia Commission on Youth Biennial Report
- Review, Research and Edit the Board's biennial report: Collection of Evidence-based Practices for Children and Adolescents with Mental Health Treatment Needs
- Owner, The Path To Well-Being, LLC, Manassas, Virginia (click on green URL) Conflict Resolution Services and Mediator
- COO, The Law Office of Craig A. Brown, PLLC, Manassas Virginia
- Director/Supervisor for City of Alexandria Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities
- Enterprise/Marketing/Budgets
- Public Information Specialist County of Henrico
- YMCA Senior Director
- Corporate Facility Director
- Formerly worked for the Navy in La Maddalena, Italy and Thurso, Scotland on Nuclear Submarine Bases
- Education: Candidate for Doctoral at Georgetown University and Executive Master's in Policy Leadership
- Education: M.S. Department of Kinesiology and Health Services Management, Concentration in Kinesiology Management, Business and Public Administration - Medical College of Virginia (MCV)/Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)
- Honors: Graduated Cum Laude
- Education: B.S. Public Administration - Virginia Commonwealth University
- Health & Wellness Coach from Georgetown University and Couples Coach through Liberty University
- Certified in Applied Neuroscience for Brain Change in the Treatment of Trauma, Anxiety and Stress Disorders, Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Complimentary Alternative Medicine, An Overview of Medical and Medicinal Foods, Art Therapy and Recreational Therapy
- Married for 32 years with four children
Article
B.J. Brown to challenge for seat
Alex Koma, akoma@insidenova.com
"Brown, a Nokesville resident and member of the advisory board for the General Assembly’s Commission on Youth, is particularly concerned with the issue of improving mental health care for children. She earned her master’s degree in kinesiology and health services from Virginia Commonwealth University, and has recently been pressing state and local lawmakers to more closely study “the careless medical practices, difficult schedules and weakened diagnostic criteria” that she believes have led to the overprescription of drugs to treat things like ADHD."
She believes those drugs are “addictive and can serve as a gateway drug to heroin,” and she would rather see “skilled professionals evaluating mental health needs based on common sense criteria without pharmaceutical company influence, which has weakened the diagnostic criteria.”
“The misdiagnosis dilemma affects other groups as well, especially in nursing homes, state hospitals and veterans’ facilities,” Brown wrote in a release. “This endangers lives and puts a strain on our state and federal budgets. The crisis plays more than a small part in Virginia’s current billion dollar budget deficit. And pharmaceutical companies bear more than a little responsibility for this problem. After all, the rising healthcare costs associated with the side effects of their drugs account for a major share of the exploding Medicaid budgets.”
Peter R. Breggin M.D.Peter R. Breggin, MD, has been called “The Conscience of Psychiatry” for his many decades of successful efforts to reform the mental health field. (click on green URL for full website)
Peter R. Breggin M.D. conducts a private practice of psychiatry in Ithaca , New York , where he treats adults, couples, and families with children. He also does consultations in the field of clinical psychopharmacology and often acts as a medical expert in criminal, malpractice and product liability suits. Before moving to Ithaca in November 2002 he was in practice for nearly thirty-five years in Washington , DC and Bethesda , Maryland . He has written dozens of scientific articles and many professional books, including Medication Madness: The Role of Psychiatric Drugs in Cases of Violence, Suicide and Crime (2008), and is on the editorial board of several journals. Dr. Peter Breggin's scientific and educational work has provided the foundation for modern criticism of psychiatric drugs and ECT, and leads the way in promoting more caring and effective therapies. He has authored dozens of scientific articles and more than twenty books including the bestseller Talking Back to Prozac (1994, with Ginger Breggin), Medication Madness: The Role of Psychiatric Drugs in Cases of Violence, Suicide and Crime (2008), and Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: a Guide for Prescribers, Therapists, Patients and Their Families (2013). In 2010 Dr. Breggin and his wife Ginger formed a new organization, the Center for the Study of Empathic Therapy, that continues their emphasis on bringing professional and laypersons together to share their concerns about the hazards of contemporary biological psychiatry while promoting more caring and empathic approaches to personal conflict and suffering. The Center for the Study of Empathic Therapy maintains a critical analysis of biopsychiatry while exploring and promoting more effective empathic approaches in mental health, education, and living. Many of Dr. Breggin’s accomplishments as a reformer are documented in detail in The Conscience of Psychiatry: The Reform Work of Peter R. Breggin, M.D. (2009). This biographical tribute to Dr. Breggin’s work draws on more than half-a-century of media and more than 70 special contributions from his colleagues, as well as many other sources. Dr. Breggin’s background includes Harvard College, Case Western Reserve Medical School, a one-year internship and a three-year residency in psychiatry, including a teaching fellowship at Harvard Medical School. After his training, he accepted a two-year staff appointment at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). He has taught at several universities, including a faculty appointment to the Johns Hopkins University Department of Counseling and an appointment as Visiting Scholar at SUNY Oswego in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services in 2007-2008. He later taught as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services at SUNY Oswego. In the early 1990s Dr. Breggin was appointed and approved by the court as the single scientific expert for more than 100 combined Prozac product liability concerning violence, suicide and other behavioral aberrations caused by the antidepressant. In 2001-2002, he participated as a medical expert in a California lawsuit whose resolution was associated with a new label warning for Paxil concerning withdrawal effects. Recently Dr. Breggin was the medical expert in the first psychosurgery malpractice suit and also the first ECT malpractice suit ever won in court. He has been a medical expert in many courtroom victories for individuals injured by medications, including numerous cases of tardive dyskinesia caused by neuroleptic drugs. Dr. Breggin has been approved as an expert and testified in more than 90 court cases since 1987, including criminal, malpractice, and product liability. See Dr. Breggin's resume on his website at www.Breggin.com for a list of cases since 1987. These cases often involve psychopharmacology and adverse drug effects, neuroleptic-induced tardive dyskinesia, SSRI-induced violence and suicide, and psychosurgery and ECT-induced brain damage. Some of the suits in which Dr. Breggin has been involved, and some of research he have published, resulted in changes being made in the FDA-approved labels for neuroleptics and SSRI antidepressants. Dr. Breggin has also been a consultant to the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) on the adverse effects of psychiatric drugs on pilots.
*Shown in HuffPost
Peter R. Breggin M.D. conducts a private practice of psychiatry in Ithaca , New York , where he treats adults, couples, and families with children. He also does consultations in the field of clinical psychopharmacology and often acts as a medical expert in criminal, malpractice and product liability suits. Before moving to Ithaca in November 2002 he was in practice for nearly thirty-five years in Washington , DC and Bethesda , Maryland . He has written dozens of scientific articles and many professional books, including Medication Madness: The Role of Psychiatric Drugs in Cases of Violence, Suicide and Crime (2008), and is on the editorial board of several journals. Dr. Peter Breggin's scientific and educational work has provided the foundation for modern criticism of psychiatric drugs and ECT, and leads the way in promoting more caring and effective therapies. He has authored dozens of scientific articles and more than twenty books including the bestseller Talking Back to Prozac (1994, with Ginger Breggin), Medication Madness: The Role of Psychiatric Drugs in Cases of Violence, Suicide and Crime (2008), and Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: a Guide for Prescribers, Therapists, Patients and Their Families (2013). In 2010 Dr. Breggin and his wife Ginger formed a new organization, the Center for the Study of Empathic Therapy, that continues their emphasis on bringing professional and laypersons together to share their concerns about the hazards of contemporary biological psychiatry while promoting more caring and empathic approaches to personal conflict and suffering. The Center for the Study of Empathic Therapy maintains a critical analysis of biopsychiatry while exploring and promoting more effective empathic approaches in mental health, education, and living. Many of Dr. Breggin’s accomplishments as a reformer are documented in detail in The Conscience of Psychiatry: The Reform Work of Peter R. Breggin, M.D. (2009). This biographical tribute to Dr. Breggin’s work draws on more than half-a-century of media and more than 70 special contributions from his colleagues, as well as many other sources. Dr. Breggin’s background includes Harvard College, Case Western Reserve Medical School, a one-year internship and a three-year residency in psychiatry, including a teaching fellowship at Harvard Medical School. After his training, he accepted a two-year staff appointment at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). He has taught at several universities, including a faculty appointment to the Johns Hopkins University Department of Counseling and an appointment as Visiting Scholar at SUNY Oswego in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services in 2007-2008. He later taught as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services at SUNY Oswego. In the early 1990s Dr. Breggin was appointed and approved by the court as the single scientific expert for more than 100 combined Prozac product liability concerning violence, suicide and other behavioral aberrations caused by the antidepressant. In 2001-2002, he participated as a medical expert in a California lawsuit whose resolution was associated with a new label warning for Paxil concerning withdrawal effects. Recently Dr. Breggin was the medical expert in the first psychosurgery malpractice suit and also the first ECT malpractice suit ever won in court. He has been a medical expert in many courtroom victories for individuals injured by medications, including numerous cases of tardive dyskinesia caused by neuroleptic drugs. Dr. Breggin has been approved as an expert and testified in more than 90 court cases since 1987, including criminal, malpractice, and product liability. See Dr. Breggin's resume on his website at www.Breggin.com for a list of cases since 1987. These cases often involve psychopharmacology and adverse drug effects, neuroleptic-induced tardive dyskinesia, SSRI-induced violence and suicide, and psychosurgery and ECT-induced brain damage. Some of the suits in which Dr. Breggin has been involved, and some of research he have published, resulted in changes being made in the FDA-approved labels for neuroleptics and SSRI antidepressants. Dr. Breggin has also been a consultant to the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) on the adverse effects of psychiatric drugs on pilots.
*Shown in HuffPost
"Focus on Schools, Veterans, and State Facilities"
Workable solutions to enhance the lives in the Commonwealth
Political action is needed to change the current mental health crisis in children! |
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