Mentally ill killer tried multivitamins rather than prescribed medications

[MikeC]

....and killed his father and injured his mother while on this "regime"

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During the trial underway this week in Vancouver, the court heard evidence that at the time of the slaying, the accused was off his prescribed medication and was trying to treat himself with a brand of multivitamins called True Hope Empower Plus, which is marketed on the internet to people with mental illness.

and

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Company defends vitamin treatment

The supplements are made by Truehope, which has had several clashes with Health Canada. But the company's operator says while it does not promise a cure, the vitamins can be effective in some cases.

"A number of people have used this protocol for schizophrenia and have been extremely successful," Truehope president Anthony Stephan told CBC News.

I guess there's not a case for criminal liability against the company, but it makes me angry that they can market their quakery at a vulnerable target and then say "hey, it's not our fault"

[Jay_Bee]

Yes, but how many people go on various prescription meds and still end up harming themselves or others? What about the evidence that is now on the prescribing information packets that suggests that SSRI drugs might actually increase the risk of suicide in some groups? There is no simple solution that is 100% effective and entirely without side effects. While I know nothing of that company or any claims they may have made, there is good scientific research that points towards the value of vitamins in mental health. Here is a sample of 5 journal abstracts from the most recent studies - lots more where that came from. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23362497 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23226848 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23377209 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23306210 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23306210 Does this mean that nutrition is the best therapy? I don't know that we can say that. But in terms of prevention - clearly a winner. And clearly of some benefit in treating a disease. What about exercise and meditation? Lots of evidence that those are beneficial for many mental conditions. When does talk therapy beat pharmaceutical therapy? I don't think anyone knows that - psychiatric medicine involves a lot of 'let's try this' - which sometimes helps, often not. In the case of nursing homes, I suggest that many drugs are used not to help the patient, but to help the institution by making the patient more manageable.

[Cairenn]

I feel that one of the reasons that an SSRI might increase the risk of suicide is tied to them working. Severely depressed folks are often so depressed that planning a suicide is too much 'work'. If one starts feeling a little better, then there is a chance that the suicide they had thought about before, now becomes possible.

Yes, I have suffered from major depression in the past

[Jay_Bee]

That is one mechanism that might explain things. Another is that the drug is initially disruptive. I have also experienced and seen in others a paradoxical reaction to many drugs - people getting zipped up by drugs that are supposed to sedate, people with ADHD becoming relaxed after taking stimulants, etc.

[Biggerdave]

SSRI's have a tendency to cause internal agitation and anxiety in the first couple of weeks, which is more pronounced in younger people. Thus can heighten suicidal ideation. Also there has been speculation that some of those that have committed suicide while on SSRIs may have been bi polar and the medication has messed with their moods.

Edited to add; the agitation may be caused to the increased serotonin that will be in the system. Essentially neurones will be getting signals that nay not have been before and the system us imbalanced. It us for this reason small doses should be given at the start and then work your way up to larger ones

[Cairenn]

That is one of the problems with treating any mental illness. We have to treat a symptom. Even worse it is a self reported symptom. With a fever, there is a way of confirming how a medicine works. Mental illness is more like a headache or pain.

I remember reading one theory that ADD/ADHD may come in several types, and that each variety responds to different medications.

[Biggerdave]

....and killed his father and injured his mother while on this "regime"

Content from external source:

During the trial underway this week in Vancouver, the court heard evidence that at the time of the slaying, the accused was off his prescribed medication and was trying to treat himself with a brand of multivitamins called True Hope Empower Plus, which is marketed on the internet to people with mental illness.

and

Content from external source:


Company defends vitamin treatment

The supplements are made by Truehope, which has had several clashes with Health Canada. But the company's operator says while it does not promise a cure, the vitamins can be effective in some cases.

"A number of people have used this protocol for schizophrenia and have been extremely successful," Truehope president Anthony Stephan told CBC News.

I guess there's not a case for criminal liability against the company, but it makes me angry that they can market their quakery at a vulnerable target and then say "hey, it's not our fault"

While this is obviously a tragic case there is compelling evidence for the treatment of schizophrenia without medication. http://www.psychminded.co.uk/news/ne...ication003.htm
I trained as a psychiatric nurse in the early 80's while the care of the mentally ill was still based in institutions in the UK and the concept had been around for decades but with little interest. The main stumbling block is with the medical profession and their dominance in mental health care. The development of antipsychotic drugs in the 50's were seen as a panacea and psychological and socialogical aspects have been playing catch up ever since.

[Grieves]

I'm going to make some personal admissions that might be used against me in future arguments, but I think it's somewhat important to share my perspective on this issue.

I struggled with diagnosed depression as a youth and still do to an extent, but at no point did things get as bad for me as when I was on prescribed anti-depressants. The notion that they make you feel 'better' proved a falsehood in my experience. What they make you feel is 'less'. You might become more functional, because you're not so bogged down in what can seem a very physical weight of despair, but it's not as if that despair is replaced with better/more productive emotions. It's simply gone, and an evident vacancy is left in it's place, a hollowness of disposition that can leave one running on auto-pilot in near every facet of life; not just your responses to others, but your own internal thought-processes beginning to seem exceedingly robotic.
I'd admittedly had suicidal thoughts in my teens, and my sharing of these thoughts with family is what led to my being diagnosed/medicated. Prior to being medicated these were just thoughts, any actual tendencies curbed by my emotional response to them. As much as I thought I didn't want to be alive, I was still afraid of dieing. As unhappy as I found myself, I worried about what would happen to my family if I went through with it, and how unhappy it would make them. When the medications began to really sink in, it wasn't just the sadness that gradually numbed, but it was also my fear, and also my worry. The strong emotions that used to serve as the barrier between suicidal thoughts and suicidal actions weren't there anymore, but my opinion of myself and my surrounds hadn't changed. At no time did I ever come closer to self-harm than when I was on Anti-depressants.

[Mick]

Pychoactive drugs and mental illness are poorly understood, because the brain is poorly understood. Yet there are many people who are helped by drugs. There are also many people who don't respond well to one drug or another.

I know people who are a lot better on medication. I know people who think that medication is a crutch. I know people that think medication causes more problems than it solves.

Personally I think these things are over-prescribed, and that various forms of therapy are underutilized. I think there's a profit motive from the drug companies that leads to excessive drug use. However I also think that many people are greatly helped by their medication, especially those suffering from depression.

[Cairenn]

I also have ADD, and my friends can tell when I am taking my meds and when I haven't taken them that day. The meds really help me. I have not has as much obvious success with anti depressants.

I am sure that the drug companies enjoy selling more of their products, but I also feel that our insurance system also leans toward medication (a 15 min appointment, every 2-3 months at the most), instead of 1 hr sessions every week for months/years.

My thought is that what is really needed is to teach coping skills more. How can you adapt to the way your brain works. Medicine should be used to help not as a 'cure'.