In the first half, author and psychiatrist, Dr. Peter Breggin, discussed the harmful long term effects of psychiatric drugs. The original drug safety studies only last for short periods, but people are told to go on these drugs for months and years, he said. When you stay on these kind of medications for a long time, we're finding a shortened lifespan, particularly from anti-psychotics, which may cut 20 years from a person's life, he detailed. Further, scans and MRIs have revealed that people on long-term psychiatric drugs have brain shrinkage. While the drugs may offer some short term relief for patients, "if you're looking at actual improvement in mental and emotional health...all the evidence points toward decline in quality of life," for those who stay on them long term, he stated.
A new study has revealed that people taking SSRI antidepressants had more than a 70% increase in driving accidents, and people taking 'benzos' (tranquilizers) had more than a 50% increase, Breggin reported. He also singled out the vexing problem of psychiatric drugs increasingly prescribed to both children and the elderly. Symptoms for children on these meds include Tardive dyskinesia, obesity, and premature sexual development, while the elderly in nursing homes are often placed on anti-psychotics as a way to control their behavior, even though it shortens their lifespan. Additionally, Dr. Breggin talked about difficulties in withdrawing from the medications, as well as how many states have put in place "involuntary outpatient" programs, where people are forced to take drugs, instead of going to mental hospitals.
--------------------------------------
In the latter half, Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Peter Fairfield, talked about his work connecting people with the multi-dimensional wisdom of their body, as well as dissolving emotional and physical pain. He suggests that we can wake our whole being up by "going into all the places in the body where our traumas and habitual patterns are held," and begin to loosen or open them up, to reveal a calming innate presence that is connected to the now. One simple method is to breathe into your lower abdomen, which increases neurotransmitters, puts us in touch with our feelings, and enhances the digestive and immune systems, he shared.
Fairfield also spoke about the concept of the heart. The heart comes down from the crown chakra, and has glial cells "that produce electromagnetic frequencies or waves that connect us...so when our heart is open, we connect to life and the universe, and we feel deeply," he explained. Interestingly, he said that "the heart protects itself with openness...when we're open and have the courage to actually see the truth, then the world is open to us as well."
News segment guests: Lauren Weinstein, Jerry Corsi, Stephen Bassett - Related Article, Dr. John McDougall