Please sign and share this petition worldwide to tell Canadian pediatricians to stop giving children anti-depressants! Some of these drugs are too potent and hazardous for youngsters under age 18 and should not be a standard treatment option. The use of these types of drugs on young people is not approved by Health Canada for the care of mild to moderate depression and anxiety.
The Chief of Psychiatry at Windsor Regional Hospital, Dr. Yousha Mirza states that “knowing the risk and side effects when the benefits are not great, the risk-benefit ratio in most cases is not that good. When it comes to high-moderate to severe cases, the benefit outweighs the risk.” When it comes to mild cases of depression or anxiety in children, antidepressants can have more harm than good without showing any positive results, although there can be some effective treatment for severe cases.
Antidepressants are still not approved by Health Canada for children and several risk factors have been communicated to the public and healthcare providers. Such risk can involve possible suicides in patients under 18 years of age who are treated with SSRIs or Serotonin Nor-adrenaline re-uptake Inhibitors. One of the most popular drugs given to young people is Prozac, which many people believe is effective. The British National Health Service has reached the conclusion that there’s no value in the use of these SSRIs in mild to moderate cases and only work because people believe they help. There is no documentation that the drug can help children and the side effects can be risky to fatal at times.
Physicians and pediatricians need to be cautious and hesitant about prescribing antidepressants to children under the age of 18. The number of children treated for depression and anxiety has increased drastically in recent years; about 700 to 800 annually due to the pressures on family life created by economic instability and students transitioning to new schools due to the spate of recent school closures. It is sad to witness many hospitals like the Windsor Regional Hospital is at full capacity of children in its mental health unit.
Many pediatricians are too quick in prescribing a child under age 18 a harmful antidepressant medication. Please sign and share this petition worldwide to tell Canadian pediatricians to stop giving children anti-depressants!
Canadian Pediatric Society – Please stop giving children antidepressants so freely when there are so many adverse reactions, risks and side effects. Children should be worked with more closely on a personal level rather than try to drug them up and eventually cause them harm from side effects and other possible health risks.
