Antidepressants & Mass Murder

2.5 min video by Peter Goetzche, a brilliant MD/researcher, on risks of psychiatric medications for adults and youth

Antidepressants and Other Psychiatric Drugs

Psychiatric drugs are mind altering chemicals designed to alter emotions, behavior and thinking processes. At their best they can be helpful so patients do not feel as depressed; at their worst they can engender destructive behaviors.

A black box warning is the strongest warning that the FDA can require for a medication¹. Antidepressants have a black box warning for increased risks of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children and adolescents, printed on the insert that comes with the bottle. The warning was issued in 2004 and expanded to all antidepressants in 2018.

Of note: “One of the ingredients in the anti-depressant Auvelity (bupropion) can cause unusual thoughts or behaviors, including delusions (believing you are someone else), hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not there), paranoia (feeling that people are against you), or feeling confused.”—from promotion for Auvelity.

The Lewiston, Maine, shooter who murdered 18 people on October 25, 2023 had been on medication. There is no apparent motivation for his wanton shooting and murder other than deluded thinking and paranoia. He was having thoughts of hurting others during the summer, 2023, and was hospitalized for a psychiatric evaluation for 2 weeks. Were medications part of the story bringing him to commit the murders?

—————-

The following article comes from Sheila Matthews, co-founder of AbleChild.org:

Huntsville, Alabama, February 5, 2012 15 year old on Prozac, Xanax and Ambien – School shooting
Cleveland, Ohio, October 10, 2007, 14 year old stormed through his school with a gun in each hand, shooting and wounding four before taking his own life – antidepressant Trazodone.
Red Lake, Minnesota, March 2005 16 year old shot and killed his grandparents, then went to his school where he shot dead 7 students and a teacher and wounded 7 before killing himself – Prozac.

The list of mass shootings, and the link between psychiatric drugs and violence goes on and on. (See full article) In fact, the common denominator in these shootings is that the shooter 9 out of 10 times is on a psychiatric drug with violent side effects.

We strongly urge you to look at the data, stop turning a blind eye to this obvious link between psychiatric drugs and mass murders, since your disregard can only lead to future crimes against the innocent.

… Drugging children with psychiatric drugs linked to psychotic episodes, aggression and violence, drugs which are many times not even approved for use in children…is clearly not working.

Studies Tie Psychiatric Drugs to Violence and Homicide

Psychiatric drugs are mind altering chemicals designed to alter emotions, behavior and thinking processes. The following information provides the documented risks of these drugs in relation to them causing violence. It includes international drug regulatory warnings, studies, and adverse reaction reports filed with the U.S. FDA from 2004-2011. Common brand name psychiatric drugs include Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Cymbalta, Wellbutrin, Risperdal, Seroquel, Abilify, Ritalin, Adderall, Concerta, Klonopin, and Xanax.

Drug Agency Regulatory Warnings on Psychiatric Drugs Causing Violence and Suicide Side Effects – There have been 58 drug regulatory agency warnings from ten countries and the European Union, that include warnings of antidepressant induced violence, hostility, aggression, self-harm, homicidal ideation and suicide risk. See Tab A below.
Drug Studies on Psychiatric Drugs Causing Violence and Suicide Side Effects – There have been 33 studies in eight countries on antidepressant induced violence, homicidal ideation, aggression, mania/psychosis, hallucinations and suicide risks. See Tab B below
Adverse Reaction Reports filed with the US FDA on Psychiatric Drugs Causing Violence and Suicide Side Effects – There have been 29,936 adverse reactions reported to the US FDA in connection with psychiatric drugs and violence, hostility, aggression, physical assault and suicide. See Tab C below

Tab A) Psychiatric Drug Violence and Suicide Side Effects Reported to the FDA: There have been 58 drug regulatory agency warnings from ten countries (United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Germany, Ireland, United Kingdom, France and Russia), and the European Union, showing how psychiatric drugs have been tied to violence and suicide, which include:

47 warnings on psychiatric Type
12 warnings on psychiatric drugs causing mania/psychosis
11 warnings on psychiatric drugs causing violence, hostility, or aggression
6 warnings on psychiatric drugs causing self-harm
4 warnings on psychiatric drugs causing abnormal behavior
4 warnings on psychiatric drugs causing hallucinations
1 warning on psychiatric drugs causing homicidal ideation

Tab B) Drug Studies on Psychiatric Drugs Causing Violence and Suicide Side Effects: There have been 33 studies in eight countries (United Kingdom, France, United States, Canada, Sweden, Israel, Italy, and Germany), which found a connection between psychiatric drugs and violence and suicide, which include:

26 studies on psychiatric drugs causing suicide/risk/attempts
6 studies on psychiatric drugs causing violence, hostility, or aggression
4 studies on psychiatric drugs causing mania/psychosis
2 studies on psychiatric drugs causing homicidal ideation
1 study on psychiatric drugs causing hallucinations

Tab C) Psychiatric Drug Violence and Suicide Side Effects Reported to the FDA: There have been 29,936 violence adverse reactions that have been reported to the US FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (MedWatch), between 2004 and 2011, this breaks down to:

9,310 cases of psychiatric drugs causing completed suicides
7,871 cases of psychiatric drugs causing suicide attempts
2,795 cases of psychiatric drugs causing mania
7,250 cases of psychiatric drugs causing aggression
872 cases of psychiatric drugs causing homicidal ideation
607 cases of psychiatric drugs causing hostility
504 cases of psychiatric drugs causing physical assault
359 cases of psychiatric drugs causing homicide
191 cases of psychiatric drugs causing psychosis
177 cases of psychiatric drugs causing violence-related symptoms

———————–

Full pdf can be downloaded at https://www.cga.ct.gov/asaferconnecticut/tmy/0129/Sheila%20Matthews%20-%20Cofounder%20of%20Ablechild.pdf

Author: Sheila Matthews from AbleChild.org, increasing awareness of ties between psychiatric drugs and violence.

————————

More Resources

For professional assessment of the risks: https://www.antidepressantrisks.org/ This site has video interviews with psychiatrists as well as antidepressants users, books, links to films, and other useful links. Highly recommended.
http://www.antidepressantstatistics.com/ Statistics pulled from FDA database. These are more up to date and confirm what is reflected in above article.
https://rxisk.org/ RxISK is a free, independent drug safety website to help you weigh the benefits of any medication against its potential dangers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vvQ59Rs1wM&t=167s Interview with David Healy, MD, psychiatrist
Spielmans, G, Spence-Soing, T., Parry, P. (2020) Duty to Warn: Antidepressant Black Box Suicidality Warning Is Empirically Justified. Front Psychiatry.2020; 11:18. doi: 3389/fpsyt.2020.00018
https://www.deadlymedicines.dk/ The website of Peter Gøtzsche, seen in the vid at the top of this article.

Integrative Mental Health University, IMHU.org, has a course surveying evidence-based alternatives to medication for overcoming depression.

Overcome Depression: Effective Integrative Methods Not Relying on Psychiatric Medication

Antidepressants & Mass Murder