BBC News. 19 October 2016.
Review: The ‘extreme’ side-effects of antidepressants – BBC News
This BBC report shines a much-needed light on the harsh reality behind the mass prescribing of SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), the most common class of antidepressants. Through powerful personal testimonies, such as that of Claire Hanley, viewers see the devastating physical and mental toll these drugs can exact: seizure-like muscle jolts, disorientation, digestive collapse, infections, constant fatigue, and in some cases, a rapid descent into suicidal ideation within weeks of starting treatment.
Far from the “safe and effective” narrative pushed by psychiatry and pharma marketing, the video reveals how these symptom-suppressing chemicals—developed largely by chance and sold for massive profits—can worsen the very conditions they claim to treat. One in four people reportedly becoming more anxious is particularly damning. These are not rare anomalies but the predictable outcome of a field that has never identified the biological cause of “depression” or any other mental illness, offering no cures, only repeat customers.
Per Lanterna’s investigative lens sees this as emblematic of psychiatry’s broader failure: commercial interests overriding patient safety, with lives ruined while the industry expands diagnostic categories and prescriptions. The report’s call for greater awareness and accountability is welcome, but it underscores a deeper truth—until we abandon the fraudulent “chemical imbalance” model and the profit-driven drug model, more lanterns are needed to expose the harm.
Strong viewing for anyone questioning the psychiatric status quo.
Chemical imbalance – psychiatry as a pharma marketing tool
