PAXIL - Carmichael,was self-medicating himself with an anti-depressant Seroxat

Carmichael, who was self-medicating himself with an anti-depressant

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The London Free Press


(C) Copyright 2007, Sun Media Corporation

Man who killed his son eager to talk about depression

Wednesday, May 9, 2007



BY IAN GILLESPIE, FREE PRESS COLUMNIST



David Carmichael knows a lot about depression.



Ever since he killed his 11-year-old son in a London hotel almost three years ago, Carmichael has schooled himself obsessively on the topic. Words and phrases like "delirium" and "psychotic depression" and "SSRI-induced psychosis" (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) roll easily off his tongue.



And he's eager to talk about it -- on the phone, by e-mail or in his electronic chat room.



I'm just not sure I want to listen.



Carmichael killed his son, Ian, in the morning of July 31, 2004. Ostensibly, they'd come to London to attend a biking event in St. Thomas. But as testimony later revealed, Carmichael, who was self-medicating himself with an anti-depressant, believed his son was brain-damaged and was going to harm Carmichael's wife.



And so he strangled him.



"After he was dead, I moved his body to the centre of the bed, kissed him on the lips and told him, 'I love you, I'm really going to miss you, but you're in a better place now.' I didn't cry."



We know these details, because Carmichael has posted them on his website (www.davidcarmichael.com).



In September 2005, Carmichael was judged "not criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder" and was sent to the Brockville Mental Health Centre. He's still there, but says he's free to leave the facility for about six hours every day -- sometimes on his own, but always under at least indirect supervision.



"I'm living quite a normal life," he says. "I work out every day, I'm involved in a lot of different things. Yeah, I'm keeping very busy."



His website (www.depressionsufferers.com), which he launched Monday to coincide with National Mental Health Week, is filled with information about depression. But the main component is a chat room and message board, where online participants can share their thoughts and feelings about depression.



"Support is a critical piece of recovery," he says. "And I feel that people who've had to fight (depression) and survived it are the people who can give the best advice."



Carmichael admits he has no clinical training in the field (before his son's death, Carmichael was a physical-activity consultant). But he says the information on the website is drawn from experts and has been supported by his psychiatrists and counsellors.



He also emphasizes the first paragraph of his "treatment options" section warns readers: "If you're having thoughts about harming yourself or someone else, get yourself to the emergency department of a local hospital."



But the main purpose of the website, says Carmichael, is to help people with depression realize they're not alone.



"I think all these silent people need to start interacting," he says. "We have to break the silence."



Carmichael says that kind of support might have prevented the death of his son.



"I wish I'd had it," he says. "And if it's not going to come from your own neighbourhood or your own family, then maybe it's going to be online."



He's right, of course. We need to talk more about depression and mental illness. We need to break the shame and stigma surrounding these issues.



But still, I feel uneasy talking to Carmichael because he seems to blame a lot of things for his son's death. He blames depression, he blames the drug Paxil, he blames his "predisposition to mental illness," he blames the family, friends and co-workers who he felt "abandoned" him.



In a way, he even blames you and me when he says, "The public doesn't understand this illness."



I suppose he's right. But a lot of people suffer from depression. A lot of people have problems with pills. A lot of people feel alone and isolated.



But most of them don't kill their son, then post details on the Internet of how they did it and then set themselves up as some kind of heroic crusader for mental health.



"I've forgiven myself," he tells me.



And maybe that's the part that I will never, ever understand.





(Now, here's Carmichael's e-mail.)







From: David Carmichael

Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 2:35 PM

To: letters@lfpress.com

Subject: Help kill Bill C-51 to prevent many more innocent children like my son Ian from being killed



I have just posted evidence that suggests Paxil, an antidepressant known as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), caused me to kill my 11-year-old son Ian on July 31, 2004. It is posted in the "ssri-induced psychosis" section at www.davidcarmichael.com. This evidence was not presented at my first-degree murder trial in September 2005.





I have waited until now to post the evidence that suggests Paxil triggered my psychotic episode, not my major depression, because I was afraid as a Ward of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario of the close relationship that chemical drug pharmaceutical companies have with government and mental health centres. Tony Clement, for example, owned (and may still own) 25% of a Toronto-based chemical pharmaceutical company between the time he stopped being the Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care (in 2003) and became the federal Minister of Health (in 2006). And in November 2000, Dr. David Healy, a world leading psychiatrist from the U.K. and an expert in psychopharmacology, had his job offer as the Clinical Director of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) rescinded after making a presentation at the University of Toronto on the increased risk of suicide of people on SSRIs.







I am now more afraid of the excruciating pain that many more Canadian families will experience if Bill C-51 is passed than of the consequences of speaking out against Paxil and SSRIs. Bill C-51 has already passed its first reading in the House of Commons.





Bill C-51 is in the best interest of big chemical drug pharmaceutical companies, not in the best interest of the health and safety of Canadians. It provides a provision - amendment 15.1 (2) - based on regulations (which do not require a parliamentary debate or vote) for direct-to-consumer advertising, which will make it easier for big chemical drug pharmaceutical companies to mislead the public about the effectiveness and lethal side-effects of SSRIs. If Bill C-51 is passed, there will likely be many more SSRI-induced suicides and homicides.

Bill C-51 groups natural health products with chemical drugs as "therapeutic products". If Bill C-51 is passed, manufacturers of natural health products, which have not caused a single death in Canadian history, will have to comply with the same rigorous and expensive clinical trial licensing requirements as big chemical drug pharmaceutical companies. This will force many natural health product manufacturers into bankruptcy and may limit mental illness interventions to prescribed psychotropic drugs.

Bill C-51 will make it illegal for anyone to sell or give away up to 60% or more of the natural health products that are currently on the market. Yet, more than 70% of Canadians use natural health products with few adverse side-effects. If Bill C-51 is passed, parents could face criminal charges if they give organic herbs or nutritional supplements that foster mental health to their children.

Bill C-51 does not support mental health promotion. It supports the treatment of mental illnesses with prescribed psychotropic drugs. If Bill C-51 is passed, psychiatrists and medical doctors will have to focus more on the chemical treatment of major depression and other mental illnesses. It will be illegal for them to promote mental health and prevent mental illnesses by prescribing many of the natural health products that are currently on the market.

Bill C-51 will make it easier for Health Canada inspectors to prosecute anyone who sells many of the natural health products that are currently on the market. The maximum fines will increase from $500 to $250,000 for a first time summary offence and from $5,000 to $5,000,000 for an indictable offence. If Bill C-51 is passed, many naturopathic and homeopathic doctors who currently prescribe natural health products that prevent mental illnesses will be forced out of business.

Bill C-51 is a Tony Clement - friend of big pharma - amendment to Canada's Food and Drugs Act. It will force Canadians to spend more than the $22.5 billion they spent on prescribed drugs in 2007 - up 7.2% from $21 billion in 2006.







Bill C-51 has to be killed to prevent many more innocent children like my son Ian from being killed.







Please pressure Members of Parliament (MPs) to vote against Bill C-51.







David Carmichael









See Bill C-51 here
 
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