Do you sometimes feel too good? Do you sometimes feel angry or depressed? I for sure do! Does that make me “mentally ill?” According to new advertisements in magazines and on TV for bipolar disorder, you too could have this diagnosis too, just fill out a little self-administered questionairre and there you are. This would then classify you as “mentally ill”, according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the Holy Bible for the psychiatric profession. Do you sometimes feel that maybe you are being “targeted” by major pharmaceutical companies? Give it a second thought…

4 years ago, the ball got rolling to start a nationwide plan of overhauling the mental health care system, started by the Bush administration, and covertly linked to major pharmaceutical industries. In 2002, Bush started the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. It was started to conduct a “comprehensive study of the United States mental health service delivery system.” In 2003, Bush issued its recommendations for comprehensive mental health screening for all children from 0-18. From their investigation of the then existing state of affarirs surrounding mental health, found that “despite their prevalence, mental disorders often go undiagnosed.”

The commission aimed at improving the service and care of those that were diagnosed with “mental disorders.” In order to be diagnosed with a disorder, the DSM-IV is referred to. According to this manual, many common symptoms of inattentiveness, behavioral problems, truancy, attention problems, socially deviant behaviors and other behaviors that are common of school age children can be labeled as “Oppositional Defiant Disorder” or “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.” We all saw societies thirst to drug their kids’ with Ritalin to fix all their problems, but this has slowly gone away due to side effects, deaths, and questioning of the disorders themselves that necessitate this drug. Now the pharmaceutical agencies are coming up with a new method.

By their ties to big lawmakers, such as the President himself, big drug companies are behind the profits of this new commission. One of the plans was to implement “state-of- the-art -treatments” using “specific medications for specific conditions.” This plan has targeted newer atypical antipsychotics and other pharmaceuticals which are protected by patents. Unlike the older medications, which are often times found to be equally or more effective than their new counterparts, these drugs are much more expensive.


According to the British Medical Journal, the plan sparked off some controversy when whistleblower Allen Jones, an employee of the Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector General, revealed that key officials with influence over the medication plan in his state received money and perks from drug companies with a stake in the medication algorithim. He was quickly fired after speaking to the British Medical Journal and the New York Times.

Eli Lilly, manufacturer of olanazapine, brand name “Zyprexa”, one of the newer atypical antipsychotics, has multiple ties to the Bush Administration. George Bush Sr. was a member of Lilly’s board of directors and Bush Jr. personally appointed Lilly’s chief executive officer, Sidney Taurel, to a seat on the Homeland Security Council. Eli Lilly made $1.6 m in political contributions in 2000-82% of which went to Bush and the Republican Party.


If you casually peruse the internet, you can find some common mental disorders, that I think are a “catch-all” for many people who maybe have some issues that most people deal with and are often common ailments . Does any of this sound like you or someone you know? According to mentalhealth.net “People who become addicted to alcohol/drugs are gradually introduced and desensitized to them over a period of time”… there are substance abuse disorders as well. I think any college age kid can relate to drinking for a few too many nights in a row.

“Cycling moods that swing between overly elated or irritable (mania) to sad and hopeless (depression) and then back again, with periods of normal mood in between.” I think anybody that has gone through a break up or through a very dramatic relationship can relate to this one.

Now I am not saying that there aren’t truly people out there who suffer from disorders that are biochemical in nature and as such must be treated with the appropriate medication, I am just saying that it is far too common for people to be able to label themselves with a disorder nowadays as many of them have been a “catch-all” category for those with common maladies of everyday life.

All that I want everyone to keep in mind is that there is a lot going on behind the scenes of advertisements and common media that just might make you feel like you have something wrong with you. This may not mean that there is. A lot of people have a lot to gain by making you think that you are crazy. Now, am I crazy for thinking that this might be something we should all know about?