This is a response letter I penned and emailed to Mind the Mental Health Charity after they had promised to stop responding to me. I was requesting that they include side effects in their yearly surveys, or any surveys, which met plain refusal. Their email from a head researcher stated that “In general, side-effects from taking medication for mental health problems is well documented”. and they would now stop responding to me further. I disagreed with that statemented reason in my silent letter.
Dear — Names Retracted — Senior Research and Evaluation Officer and Mind Research Team
You have stated that medication side effects are well documented.
Can you show me the research/surveys of the long term side effect profiles and complications caused by cocktails of multiple psychiatric drugs that are routinely used on people with mental health disabilities long term?
Like me, I was prescribed a cocktail of antidepressants, antipsychotics (and gabapentinoids) by mental health services since I was a very young child, 9 years old.
If you could include that comprehensive research/surveys of long term side effects profile of psychiatric drug cocktails in children also.
I live with serious permanent injuries that include harm to my sexual function. None of any permanent harms have been covered in research and surveys, something that should be considered and taken seriously in any context even if it wasn’t used on adults and children already suffering pre-existing mental health disability.
Can you point to me the research/surveys of the scale of impact that pregnant mothers on psychiatric drugs face who’s babies had been caused birth defects and how that has impacted on their mental health conditions?
Can you point to me the research/surveys of the impact involving psychiatric drug induced violence, suicidal and homicidal behavior and Akathisia has had on people already living with mental health disabilities and their families?
Can you point to me the research/survey of impact outcomes, unsettling and harm that antipsychotic drugs has had on adults and children with autism?
The Royal College of Psychiatrists just recently updated their position that antidepressants “More research is needed to quantify how many people have problems when stopping antidepressants”, and “A call for high-quality research into issues… and the benefits and harms of long-term use.”.
One recent (2017) psychiatric drug discontinuation survey of long-term users publication stated that “Although the Food and Drug Administration mandates research to establish efficacy and safety of short-term medication use, little federal support exists for research on long-term use”.
https://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ps.201700070
The Freedom of Information Request I submitted to the drug regulator the MHRA revealed that in 2017 (to take one year) that just 31 reports of side effects were reported by psychiatrists and 0 reports of side effects were reported by psychologists from mental health medications.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/user/daryl_brown
Can you point to me the prevalence study of permanent alteration to the sexual function of mental health patients caused from psychiatric medications?
Can you explain the reason why The Big Mental Health Survey that runs digitally on googles free survey service can not be extended to include the prevalence of Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD)?
So all mind surveys/research is funded 100% by Mind? So Mind sees researching the impact of side effects, including serious and permanent, on people with mental health disabilities mental health as unimportant?
I look forward to an early response.
Yours Sincerely
Daryl Brown
Run Against Castration 