CCHR Exposes Conflicted Psychiatrists Behind Teen Antidepressant Surge
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LOS ANGELES - PrAtlas -- By CCHR International

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), a mental health industry watchdog, today warned that the surge in antidepressant prescriptions for adolescent girls represents a public health crisis fueled by financial conflicts of interest between psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry. Between 2020 and 2022, Pediatrics reported a 130% increase in antidepressant prescribing for girls aged 12 to 17, while prescriptions for boys declined 7%.[1]

"What are the odds that one-third of American adolescents suddenly developed a brain disease requiring drugs that double their risk of suicide?" asked one psychologist. CCHR says the figures demand a federal investigation into industry influence and concealment of risk—particularly as prominent psychiatric organizations and individuals with drug-industry funding have moved to block scrutiny of antidepressant-related suicides and violence.

Some of the most influential psychiatric institutions have built reputations as child mental-health authorities while earning millions of dollars annually through clinical services and research partnerships that heavily promote antidepressants as "first-choice" treatments—even though roughly 40% of children and teens on antidepressants fail to respond adequately.[2]

At one such child-psychiatry center, psychiatrists earn $700,000 to $1.4 million a year, with the chief psychiatrist making $13 million in compensation over the past decade. The center treats children as young as one year old and charges up to $9,000 per evaluation.

Despite its influence, the institution has consistently downplayed the risks of drugging children. Its leader once claimed stimulant drugs for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) were "non-addictive." Yet the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classifies these as Schedule II controlled substances—the same category as morphine and cocaine—and a former deputy assistant administrator in the Office of Diversion Control in the DEA warned that they are "very potent, addictive, and abusable." Risks include heart problems, psychosis, and death.[3] The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has since added "addiction" to the drugs' Black Box warnings.[4]

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A source of today's youth-drugging crisis traces back to one of the most notorious studies—an antidepressant trial published in 2001 that falsely concluded the drug was safe and effective for adolescents. The study was funded and ghostwritten by a pharmaceutical manufacturer that used it to market the drug off-label, generating billions in revenue.

Re-analysis of the raw data showed that nearly 8% of children experienced suicidal behavior or hospitalization, which was misleadingly reclassified as "emotional lability."[5] Despite the deception, the paper's authors defended their work as "industry collaboration."

In 2004, the FDA issued its strongest Black Box warning that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants can cause suicidal thoughts and actions in youth. That same year, a state attorney general sued the manufacturer for fraud, leading to a multimillion-dollar settlement.

Congressional investigators also found that academic psychiatrists involved in the study failed to disclose extensive financial payments from the drug maker, even during federally funded research.

"These events exposed a pervasive system where financial gain and professional prestige took precedence over truth," said CCHR President Jan Eastgate. "When profit becomes the driving force in child psychiatry, the casualties are our children."

More than two decades later, the same patterns persist. Psychiatric leaders with strong pharmaceutical ties are now pressuring regulators to halt inquiries into the relationship between antidepressants, suicide, and acts of violence. A newly formed group recently called on Congress to take action to thwart any investigation. CCHR warns that this is another attempt to silence oversight and protect vested interests.

One signatory to a Congressional letter headed a major psychiatric hospital where pharmaceutical-company-funded drug trials were conducted. A tragic case illustrates the stakes: a young man who had been treated with multiple antidepressants and antipsychotics since childhood—and who continued receiving them for years—later committed a murder-suicide in 2018, taking two lives and his own. Records indicate he had been hospitalized in this psychiatric hospital for 12 days and prescribed antidepressants known to increase suicidal and aggressive behavior in youth.

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"By the time he reached adulthood, his brain and emotions had already been damaged by years of drugging," Eastgate said. "The catastrophe that followed was not random—it was predictable."

The public—and especially parents—are left believing that antidepressants are safe because they are prescribed, when the data shows otherwise. There are over 100 international drug-agency warnings about psychiatric drugs causing suicide, aggression, or violence. Psychiatrists with financial conflicts continue to dominate advisory panels and media coverage.

CCHR urges increased federal and state oversight to address systemic corruption in the psychiatric-pharmaceutical partnership, beginning with those involved in pediatric antidepressant research and promotion.

"History has shown that when profit outweighs protection, young lives are lost," Eastgate said. "Until full transparency and accountability are enforced, the youth antidepressant crisis will deepen—because the same people who created it are still in charge of defining it."

About CCHR: Established by the Church of Scientology and professor of psychiatry Thomas Szasz in 1969, CCHR is a nonprofit mental-health industry watchdog that investigates and exposes human-rights violations in the mental health field. It has been instrumental in hundreds of laws enacted to protect individuals from abusive or coercive psychiatric practices.

[1] Dr. Roger McFillin, "Antidepressants Increase 130% for Teen Girls, Drop 7% For Boys," Brownstone Institute, 3 Oct. 2025, brownstone.org/articles/antidepressants-increase-130-for-teen-girls-drop-7-for-boys/

[2] childmind.org/article/antidepressants-and-teen-suicides/

[3] www.cchrint.org/2012/09/20/why-are-5-milllion-kids-diagnosed-adhd-7-2-billion-a-year-in-adhd-drug-sales/; "Are ADHD Medications Overprescribed" The Wall Street Journal, updated 14 Feb. 2013, www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390444301704577631591596516110

[4] FDA updating warnings to improve safe use of prescription stimulants used to treat ADHD and other conditions," FDA, 11 May 2023, www.fda.gov/media/168066/download

[5] www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2025/08/25/antidepress; www.cchrint.org/issues/psycho-pharmaceutical-front-groups/dbsa-advisory-board/; seroxatsecrets.wordpress.com/2008/03/06/this-is-how-glaxo-hid-data-and-fooled-the-regulators/; www.statnews.com/pharmalot/2025/08/25/antidepressant-paxil-gsk-medical-journal-children-adolescents-depression-ghostwriting-retraction/