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Even though I\u2019m very aware this happens, this shockingly eye-opening article by Lydia Green is\u00a0 the best explanation I\u2019ve heard\u2026.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t set out to shape the field of psychiatry. I was just a copywriter working in pharmaceutical advertising. But over time, I found myself at the center of a campaign that would help transform how mental illness\u2014and its treatment\u2014are understood in the U.S. This is the story of how we marketed one drug, Risperdal, and how that effort helped turn atypical antipsychotics into a multi-billion-dollar industry.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve ever wondered how this powerful class of drugs ended up being prescribed for everything from adolescent mood swings to agitated nursing home patients, you\u2019re not alone. The rise of atypical antipsychotics was a business and marketing phenomenon\u2014driven in part by a wave of pharmaceutical mergers in the 1990s. First introduced for schizophrenia, atypical antipsychotics were promoted as more effective and safer than older drugs like Haldol or Thorazine.<\/p>\n
While journalists and regulators have addressed this issue, I want to share my memories of marketing Risperdal\u2014the first widely prescribed atypical antipsychotic. This is the story of how we promoted Risperdal not just as a medication, but as a revolution in psychiatric care. It\u2019s also the story of how we redefined schizophrenia, rewrote the safety narrative of antipsychotics, and helped drive one of the most successful (and concerning) pharmaceutical launches in history.<\/p>\n
It was also my first realization of the immense power marketers have to shape their version of the truth\u2014and how I eventually came to question the very system I helped build.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This is an excerpt from the excellent article recently published on the Mad in America site.\u00a0 We all need to be aware what happened with this medication and is still happening. It\u2019s so wrong and is just heart-breaking to think how individuals and their families were manipulated and impacted. Unfortunately it\u2019s very likely also happening with many other block-buster medications too – like Ozempic (for weight-loss),\u00a0 Evenity (for osteoporosis) and more.<\/p>\n
In this blog, I share stories from social workers and psychologists who were working in the field at time, the overprescribing of atypical antipsychotics to children and teens in the mid-1990s and now, and the powerful effects of tryptophan, GABA, other nutrients and diet for anxiety, agitation, rage and sleep issues in autism, dementia and ADHD.<\/p>\n
You can read the full article here – Confessions of an Ad Writer: How I Helped Turn Atypical Antipsychotics into a Billion-Dollar Industry<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Be sure to read some of the many comments from individuals and families who bore the brunt of this. It\u2019s heartbreaking.<\/p>\n
Stories from individuals who were working in the trenches at the time<\/h2>\n
I shared this article on Facebook and here is some of the feedback I received from the community. Laura Ann\u2019s response:<\/p>\n
Thank you for sharing this article. I can remember when I was fresh out of my grad social work program and was working in child psychiatry at the University of Maryland, our docs were pushing this drug for young children with ADHD and conduct disorder. Unbelievable! These companies and their executives should be criminally prosecuted.<\/p>\n
We tend to think of these scandals as something that happened but aren’t currently happening. I think we will be reading similar articles about GLP-1\u2019s.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I appreciate her for sharing what she was seeing as a social worker at the time. This is so sad and so wrong. I agree that these companies should be prosecuted. Instead they pay massive fines which are part of their marketing and just-doing-business budget, and continue as before.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately Laura Ann is spot on, as much of this continues with Risperdal and other psychiatric meds and it\u2019s already happening with GLP-1s. I share more on this below.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Mary\u2019s response:<\/p>\n
Just reading your post gave me chills and made my stomach turn. I worked with folks with developmental disabilities during this time period, I had for years! I watched as the antipsychotics and various psych meds infiltrated the group homes and joined a team of co-workers to fight it. We lost. It was disgusting. And I had no idea all this was happening in the background<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
My heart breaks for these individuals and their families. Bravo to her for trying to fight it and I appreciate her for sharing what she saw happening.<\/p>\n
And this feedback from someone else in the community:<\/p>\n
This drug was pushed on individuals with ASD (autism spectrum disorder)! Probably still is! Very sad!<\/p>\n
I am a retired psychologist who worked primarily with individuals with developmental disabilities. I saw it all the time. The \u201cmedical model\u201d was used a lot, meaning many saw psychiatrists and\/or PCPs (primary care providers) who prescribed these meds. It has a long history.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Overprescribing of atypical antipsychotics and other psychiatric medications to children and teens – then and now<\/h2>\n
As mentioned above, I\u2019ve been aware for some time that there is overprescribing of psychiatric medications to children and teens. In one of my interviews on an Anxiety Summit, \u201cPsychiatric Medications in Children and Teens\u201d with Dr. Nicole Beurkens, we discuss these results from this 2019 paper, Current Pattern of Psychiatric Comorbidity and Psychotropic Drug Prescription in Child and Adolescent Patients<\/a>:<\/p>\n
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- Our study indicates that the rate of presentation to child and adolescent psychiatry outpatient clinics is increasing, and rates of diagnosis and initiation of psychiatry drugs are high among the presented children.<\/em><\/li>\n
- The prevalence of ADHD shows an increase in males and females in our country, and psychiatric polypharmacy (multiple medications) has reached significant rates.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Keep in mind that Lydia Green shared her marketing work began in the mid-1990s, about 25 years before the above paper was published.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately not much has changed. This 2025 paper<\/a>\u00a0from Swedish authors reports that the \u201cnumber of prescriptions to children aged 5-17 years has increased<\/em>\u201d and that \u201cmost prescribed drugs were risperidone [Risperdal] and aripiprazole.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n
This 2025 paper<\/a> report that in a group of Australian children with intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder and cerebral palsy, \u201crisperidone was the most prescribed antipsychotic medication\u201d<\/em> and it was often prescribed off-label.<\/p>\n
Similar increases in antipsychotic prescriptions are also reported in children and teens in Israel<\/a>\u00a0in 2025. The list of papers goes on and on and there are similar papers for dementia and other conditions.<\/p>\n
There are versions of this story about a lot of diseases: osteoporosis is another one<\/h2>\n
Melissa\u2019s response to the Risperdal article was this: \u201cMakes you wonder about therapies they are pushing today<\/em>.\u201d It\u2019s creating awareness which is what we need and she is asking a great question. Yes – there are many versions of this story about other medications.<\/p>\n
Here is a perfect quote from this 2009 article: How A Bone Disease Grew To Fit The Prescription<\/a><\/p>\n
There’s a powerful economic incentive for pharmaceutical firms to expand the boundaries of the use of different therapies. So whether you consider treatments for osteoporosis or treatments for depression or treatments for high cholesterol \u2014 in all of these settings \u2014 pharmaceutical firms stand to benefit if the therapies for these diseases are broadly used, even if they’re used among people who have very mild forms of these diseases.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In this same article, Caleb Alexander, a pharmaco-epidemiologist at the University of Chicago, is writing about the marketing of osteoporosis medications and says \u201cthe dynamic is well understood<\/em>.\u201d But all this applies equally to the marketing of all medications i.e. \u201cThere are versions of this story about a lot of diseases<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dubious marketing by the makers of Ozempic and Wegovy (GLP-1s for weight loss)<\/h2>\n
This is happening right now for GLP-1s. There were already reports in 2023<\/a>\u00a0about dubious marketing by Novo Nordisk, the makers of Ozempic and Wegovy:<\/p>\n
In Great Britain, the company has paid within three years a total of around 21.7 million pounds (24.7 million euros) to experts and organisations including important opinion leaders who have since touted semaglutide as a “game changer” in obesity in a campaign described as an “orchestrated PR campaign.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Sadly I expect their marketing campaigns to run unchecked and get more and more sophisticated, with unsuspecting consumers being taken advantage of and harmed.<\/p>\n
Families are not aware of the powerful effects of tryptophan, GABA, other nutrients and diet<\/h2>\n
My goal is to try and change this lack of awareness so families and individuals can explore other options when they are faced with decisions about some of these medications.<\/p>\n
Instead of using antipsychotics for a family member with dementia or Alzheimer\u2019s who is experiencing agitation, aggression and anxiety, consider tryptophan and melatonin, and GABA:<\/p>\n
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- Sundowning in Alzheimer\u2019s and dementia: melatonin\/tryptophan for the agitation, restlessness, anxiety, disturbed sleep and aggression<\/a><\/li>\n
- GABA lessens anxiety, agitation and defiance in 98 year old mother who has been \u201csundowning\u201d for a couple of years<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Instead of using antipsychotics, explore the use of 5-HTP\/tryptophan and\/or GABA for kids with ADHD:<\/p>\n
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- ADHD: 5-HTP melts have been a miracle for one of my adopted kids<\/a><\/li>\n
- GABA for children: ADHD, focus issues, irritability, anxiety and tantrums<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Instead of antipsychotics and other psychotropic medications in autism, explore tryptophan and GABA:<\/p>\n
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- Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) in children with autism \u2013 how much is behavioral and how much is due to low serotonin?<\/a><\/li>\n
- Half a crushed GABA Calm for my autistic child: sleep, anxiety and sensorimotor skills (writing, horse riding and swimming) improve<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This is by no means a conclusive approach to addressing these symptoms in dementia\/Alzheimer\u2019s, ADHD and autism. We also need to consider and address diet, other nutritional imbalances, infections, gut health, toxins and much more.<\/p>\n
Additional resources when you are new to using GABA and tryptophan as supplements<\/h2>\n
As always, I use the symptoms questionnaire<\/a> to figure out if low GABA or low serotonin or other neurotransmitter imbalances may be an issue.<\/p>\n
If you suspect low levels of any of the neurotransmitters and do not yet have my book, The Antianxiety Food Solution \u2013 How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings<\/a>, I highly recommend getting it and reading it before jumping in and using amino acids on your own so you are knowledgeable. And be sure to share it with the practitioner\/health team you or your loved one is working with.<\/p>\n
There is an entire chapter on the amino acids and they are discussed throughout the book in the sections on gut health, gluten, blood sugar control (this is covered in an entire chapter too), sugar cravings, anxiety and mood issues.<\/p>\n
The book doesn\u2019t include product names (per the publisher\u2019s request) so this blog, The Antianxiety Food Solution Amino Acid and Pyroluria Supplements<\/a>, lists the amino acids that I use with my individual clients and those in my group programs.<\/p>\n
If, after reading this blog and my book, you don\u2019t feel comfortable figuring things out on your own (i.e. doing the symptoms questionnaire and respective amino acids trials), a good place to get help is the GABA QuickStart Program<\/a> (if you have low GABA symptoms). This is a paid online\/virtual group program where you get my guidance and community support. You can sign up to be notified when the next live launch is happening.<\/p>\n