This blog begins PWA's campaign to reform Australia's inept drug safety regulator (the TGA) and Freedom of Information and Political Donation Disclosure laws. by Dr Martin Whitely - 8 May 2019 (This blog draws on the work of Dr Belinda Edwards regarding political donations, Dr Stephen Duckett regarding the PBS, and Peter Timmins regarding Freedom of Information law.) Australia is nearing the end of another federal election campaign. Given past practice, it is very likely that drug companies have donated generously to our major political parties.[1] Because of Australia’s incredibly lax politic ..read more

New research from Curtin University and the University of Adelaide has shown rates of antidepressant use and suicide by young Australians have risen sharply since 2009, raising concerns about the safety of current treatment practices, and the veracity of advice from Australian suicide prevention experts. Lead author Dr Martin Whitely, Research Fellow at the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy at Curtin University, said there was a substantial decrease in the number of Australians dispensed antidepressants following the initial warning, and suicide rates were volatile, with a weak but incon ..read more

Available online in ,paperback ($29.95) or ,e-book ($11.95) or in selected bookstores. What the experts say: As a teacher and parliamentarian, Martin Whitely smelled a rat in the ADHD industry and drove reforms that tackled reckless-prescribers head-on. Now, in Over-Prescribing Madness, he exposes the rhetoric, hype and self-interest, behind Australia's faux-epidemic of mental illness. More importantly, Whitely identifies affordable solutions to ensure those who need help, get help, that is safe and effective. Prof Jon Jureidini Child Psychiatrist University of Adelaide Martin Whitely adroitl ..read more

In 2004, the US FDA warned that using antidepressants was associated with an increased (approximately doubled) risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours in people aged under-18 years of age. In 2007 the FDA extended the warning to all people aged under-25. In response, prominent Australian mental health organisations, including Suicide Prevention Australia, Orygen and headspace, along with psychiatric thought leaders, Professor Patrick McGorry and Professor Ian Hickie, minimised the significance of the warning, arguing that, on balance, antidepressants reduce the risk of youth suicide. Over the ..read more

By Dr Martin Whitely A new study by European researchers, Michael Hengartner and Martin Plöderl, published on 24 June 2019, reviewed the information held by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from randomly controlled trials that reported on the association between SSRI antidepressant use and suicide.[1] The key finding was that "the rate of suicide [attempts and completed suicides] was about 2.5 times higher in antidepressant arms relative to placebo”.[1] The results are detailed below in Table 1 from their paper. The objective of Hengartner and Plöderl’s research was to “examine wheth ..read more

The Issue Update (PDF available above) details the progress of the TGA's Review into the relationship between antidepressant use and suicide among young Australians that was requested by the Australian Minister for Health in 2020. Background to the Issue Update In 2004, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned that antidepressant use approximately doubled the risk of suicidal thinking and behaviour in people aged under 25 years diagnosed with depression, compared with placebo. Because suicidal thinking and behaviour are risk factors for suicide, the warning raises obvious questions abo ..read more

In 2020 the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) commissioned a review of antidepressant use, mental health and related conditions among young people attending one of 444 MedicineInsight general practices between 2011 and 2020. The report titled MedicineInsight Report: Epidemiology of mental health conditions and antidepressant use in people aged less than 25 years attending general practice,[1] was published in June 2021. It was previously available online at https://www.nps.org.au/assets/Epidemiology-of-mental-health-conditions-and-antidepressant-use-in-young-people.pdf however ..read more

Beginning in August 2019, every month, PsychWatch Australia will be announcing a 'Disease-Monger of the Month' Award. If the last decade of rampant, psychiatric, disease-mongering in Australia and internationally is any indication, competition will be fierce. The award is open to anybody, including mental health practitioners, researchers, politicians, and the media. Nominations, detailing the alleged disease-mongering are now open and can be emailed to psychwatchaustralia@gmail.com What is disease-mongering? Australian health researcher/writer, Dr Ray Moynihan, defined disease-mongering as ..read more

by Dr Martin Whitely Led by prominent psychiatrist and former Australian of the year Patrick McGorry, youth mental health research organisation Orygen has secured $33 million from the US National Institutes for Health to breathe new life into McGorry’s three decade long quest to develop a reliable and safe way of identifying young people who are at 'imminent and high' risk of becoming psychotic.[1] Orygen will recruit approximately a thousand young people they judge to be at high risk of psychosis and will undertake ‘a range of assessments – clinical interviews, neurocognitive and neurophysio ..read more

It is a decade since Professor Fiona Stanley told a conference of Australian politicians that “The vast majority of kids on ADHD drugs are on drugs unnecessarily. They are just naughty little boys and they would have been coped with before but they are now being medicalised”.[1] by Dr Martin Whitely To support ,PsychWatch Australia, with a Donation click here. As demonstrated in Figure 1 below, in the decade since the former Australian of the Year, Professor Stanley, made her "naughty little boys" comment, the number of Australian child prescribed ADHD medications has more than doubled, despi ..read more