{"id":130330,"date":"2025-10-21T06:00:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T10:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/?p=130330"},"modified":"2025-10-20T18:23:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T22:23:28","slug":"cchr-says-conflicted-psychiatrists-created-a-youth-drugging-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/cchr-says-conflicted-psychiatrists-created-a-youth-drugging-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"CCHR Says Conflicted Psychiatrists Created a Youth Drugging Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Oct. 21, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR)<\/a>, a mental health industry watchdog, today warned that the surge in antidepressant prescriptions for adolescent girls represents a public health crisis fueled by financial conflicts of interest between psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry. Between 2020 and 2022, Pediatrics reported a 130% increase in antidepressant prescribing for girls aged 12 to 17, while prescriptions for boys declined 7%.[1]<\/p>\n

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Image Caption: A watchdog investigation finds prescriptions for teen girls soared 130% as psychiatrists with deep industry ties promoted suicide-linked antidepressants\u2014earning millions while minimizing risks and dismissing warnings.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are the odds that one-third of American adolescents suddenly developed a brain disease requiring drugs that double their risk of suicide?\u201d asked one psychologist. CCHR says the figures demand a federal investigation into industry influence and concealment of risk\u2014particularly as prominent psychiatric organizations and individuals with drug-industry funding have moved to block scrutiny of antidepressant-related suicides and violence.<\/p>\n

Some of the most influential psychiatric institutions have built reputations as child mental-health authorities while earning millions of dollars annually through clinical services and research partnerships that heavily promote antidepressants as \u201cfirst-choice\u201d treatments\u2014even though roughly 40% of children and teens on antidepressants fail to respond adequately.[2]<\/p>\n

At one such national child-psychiatry center in New York, psychiatrists earn $700,000 to $1.4 million a year, with the chief psychiatrist making $13 million in compensation over the past decade. The center treats children as young as one year old and charges up to $9,000 per evaluation.<\/p>\n

Despite its influence, the institution has consistently downplayed the risks of drugging children. Its leader once claimed stimulant drugs for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) were \u201cnon-addictive.\u201d Yet the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classifies these as Schedule II controlled substances\u2014the same category as morphine and cocaine\u2014and a former deputy assistant administrator in the Office of Diversion Control in the DEA warned that they are \u201cvery potent, addictive, and abusable.\u201d Risks include heart problems, psychosis, and death.[3] The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has since added \u201caddiction\u201d to the drugs\u2019 Black Box warnings.[4]<\/p>\n

A source of today\u2019s youth-drugging crisis traces back to one of the most notorious studies\u2014an antidepressant trial published in 2001 that falsely concluded the drug was safe and effective for adolescents. The study was funded and ghostwritten by a pharmaceutical manufacturer that used it to market the drug off-label, generating billions in revenue.<\/p>\n

Re-analysis of the raw data showed that nearly 8% of children experienced suicidal behavior or hospitalization, which was misleadingly reclassified as \u201cemotional lability.\u201d[5] Despite the deception, the paper\u2019s authors defended their work as \u201cindustry collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2004, the FDA issued its strongest Black Box warning that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants can cause suicidal thoughts and actions in youth. That same year, a state attorney general sued the manufacturer for fraud, leading to a multimillion-dollar settlement.<\/p>\n

Congressional investigators also found that academic psychiatrists involved in the study failed to disclose extensive financial payments from the drug maker, even during federally funded research.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese events exposed a pervasive system where financial gain and professional prestige took precedence over truth,\u201d said CCHR President Jan Eastgate. \u201cWhen profit becomes the driving force in child psychiatry, the casualties are our children.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than two decades later, the same patterns persist. Psychiatric leaders with strong pharmaceutical ties are now pressuring regulators to halt inquiries into the relationship between antidepressants, suicide, and acts of violence. A newly formed group\u2014comprising prominent psychiatrists and former presidents of the American Psychiatric Association\u2014recently called on Congress to take action to thwart any investigation. CCHR warns that this is another attempt to silence oversight and protect vested interests.<\/p>\n

One signatory to a Congressional letter headed a major psychiatric hospital where pharmaceutical-company-funded drug trials were conducted. A tragic case illustrates the stakes: a young man who had been treated with multiple antidepressants and antipsychotics since childhood\u2014and who continued receiving them for years\u2014later committed a murder-suicide in 2018, taking two lives and his own. Records indicate he had been hospitalized in this psychiatric hospital for 12 days and prescribed antidepressants known to increase suicidal and aggressive behavior in youth.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time he reached adulthood, his brain and emotions had already been damaged by years of drugging,\u201d Eastgate said. \u201cThe catastrophe that followed was not random\u2014it was predictable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The public\u2014and especially parents\u2014are left believing that antidepressants are safe because they are prescribed, when the data shows otherwise. There are over 100 international drug-agency warnings about psychiatric drugs causing suicide, aggression, or violence. Psychiatrists with financial conflicts continue to dominate advisory panels and media coverage.<\/p>\n

CCHR urges increased federal and state oversight to address systemic corruption in the psychiatric-pharmaceutical partnership, beginning with those involved in pediatric antidepressant research and promotion.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistory has shown that when profit outweighs protection, young lives are lost,\u201d Eastgate said. \u201cUntil full transparency and accountability are enforced, the youth antidepressant crisis will deepen\u2014because the same people who created it are still in charge of defining it.\u201d<\/p>\n

About CCHR:<\/a><\/p>\n

Established by the Church of Scientology and professor of psychiatry Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHR is a nonprofit mental-health industry watchdog that investigates and exposes human-rights violations in the mental health field. It has been instrumental in hundreds of laws enacted to protect individuals from abusive or coercive psychiatric practices.<\/p>\n

To learn more, visit: https:\/\/www.cchrint.org\/2025\/10\/17\/profits-over-protection-how-conflicted-psychiatrists-drove-a-youth-antidepressant-crisis\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Citations:<\/em><\/p>\n

[1] Dr. Roger McFillin, \u201cAntidepressants Increase 130% for Teen Girls, Drop 7% For Boys,\u201d Brownstone Institute, 3 Oct. 2025, https:\/\/brownstone.org\/articles\/antidepressants-increase-130-for-teen-girls-drop-7-for-boys\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[2] https:\/\/childmind.org\/article\/antidepressants-and-teen-suicides\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[3] https:\/\/www.cchrint.org\/2012\/09\/20\/why-are-5-milllion-kids-diagnosed-adhd-7-2-billion-a-year-in-adhd-drug-sales\/<\/a>; \u201cAre ADHD Medications Overprescribed\u201d The Wall Street Journal, updated 14 Feb. 2013, https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/SB10000872396390444301704577631591596516110<\/a><\/p>\n

[4] FDA updating warnings to improve safe use of prescription stimulants used to treat ADHD and other conditions,\u201d FDA, 11 May 2023, https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/media\/168066\/download<\/a><\/p>\n

[5] https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/pharmalot\/2025\/08\/25\/antidepress<\/a>; https:\/\/www.cchrint.org\/issues\/psycho-pharmaceutical-front-groups\/dbsa-advisory-board\/<\/a>; http:\/\/seroxatsecrets.wordpress.com\/2008\/03\/06\/this-is-how-glaxo-hid-data-and-fooled-the-regulators\/<\/a>; https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/pharmalot\/2025\/08\/25\/antidepressant-paxil-gsk-medical-journal-children-adolescents-depression-ghostwriting-retraction\/<\/a><\/p>\n

MULTIMEDIA:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Image link for media: https:\/\/www.Send2Press.com\/300dpi\/25-1021-s2p-cchrrisks-300dpi.webp<\/a><\/p>\n

Image Caption: A watchdog investigation finds prescriptions for teen girls soared 130% as psychiatrists with deep industry ties promoted suicide-linked antidepressants\u2014earning millions while minimizing risks and dismissing warnings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LOS ANGELES, Calif., Oct. 21, 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), a mental health industry watchdog, today warned that the surge in antidepressant prescriptions for adolescent girls represents a public health crisis fueled by financial conflicts of interest between psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry. Between 2020 and 2022, Pediatrics reported a 130% increase in antidepressant prescribing for girls aged 12 to 17, while prescriptions for boys declined 7%.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9788,"featured_media":130322,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[608,12804,10,187],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion-news","category-ap","category-california-news","category-los-angeles-news","has-post-title","has-post-date","no-post-category","no-post-tag","no-post-comment","has-post-author"],"acf":[],"views":1692,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9788"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130330"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130334,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130330\/revisions\/130334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}