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Lithium in our drinking water—will lithium for mental disorders soon be put into the most ubiquitous drug delivery system of all? We already have fluoride as an additive to our drinking water. I write about this in more detail today on my blog on Natural News. 

Since the 1970s, lithium—a markedly destructive neurotoxin—has been brought up as a possible additive to drinking water. 

The latest story appeared in the last day or two on Medscape with a summary available to the public; but that summary has now been replaced by a simple remarkable headline and single sentence promo: “Lithium: The Gift That Keeps on Giving in Psychiatry Dr Nassir Ghaemi reviews recent data on the classic compound's neuroprotective and mood-balancing benefits.” An older more available Medscape promo was published in 2011 and is available.  The concept of lithium in drinking has been promoted in numerous places in the last few years, including the always-pro-drug New York Times. 

Why is this important? Will lithium soon be put in drinking water? I hope it is a ways off, but the discussion of it causes great harm right now! Talking about lithium for mental health in drinking water makes the neurotoxin seem both “natural” and “harmless,” opening the way to pushing it even harder on vulnerable populations, such as adolescents.  That is what the same Harvard doctors are doing.

It will be hard for parents to resist medical recommendations for a drug that is “natural,” “harmless,” and sure to stop their children’s “bipolar disorder”—that is, their temper tantrums. You can be sure these docs will not recommend parenting classes as the best, least expensive and most specific way to help parents with their misbehaving children.

The larger meaning? The lithium-in-drinking-water discussion shows the extremes to which organized psychiatry will go in promoting their poisonous products, even to children and youth. Vigorous opposition is required to contain and eventually to turn back psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry from harming tens of millions of adults and children.

For those of you wish more information about the harm of psychiatric drugs and how to withdraw from them, see my book Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: A Guide for Prescribers, Therapists, Patients and Their Families. 

Peter R. Breggin, MD