Mass Murders Linked To Antidepressant Use

The drug dealers have already started their offensive, so to balance their propaganda, I present this list.

This will (tragically) be a running archive of mass murders who have been linked to antidepressant use. Does this seem like quite a coincidence or what? Even though this Chicago Tribune article quotes psychiatrists as saying that antidepressants are "rarely linked to violence toward others", the FDA's Black Box warning (the most serious type of warning in prescription drug labeling) says that aggression and violence are side effects. Read the whole FDA warning below the list.

Dr. Michael Stone, a clinical psychiatry professor at Columbia and best known for his 'most evil' scale, allegedly maintains a 'database' of violent crimes and says that he only can find “...a handful of cases where the person was on an antidepressant.” Well to help you out with your database Dr. Stone, check out the site in the NY Times article. It has more than just a handful.

1. Kip Kinkel (Thurston High School Shootings 5/20/1998) [Was taking Prozac]
   
2. Eric Harris (Columbine High School Shootings 4/20/1999) [Was taking Luvox]. The medical records of Dylan Klebold (co-conspirator) have been sealed.
3. Mamoru Takuma (Osaka school massacre 6/8/2001) [Was taking an unnamed antidepressant]
   
4. Andrea Yates (Murdered her 5 children in a bathtub 6/20/2001) [Was taking Effexor]
   
5. Cho Seung-hui (Virginia Tech Shootings 4/16/2007 ) [Was taking an unnammed antidrepressant]
6. Robert Hawkins (Westroads Mall shootings Omaha 12/5/2007) [Was taking an unnammed antidrepressant, Most likely Prozac].
7. Steven Kazmierczak (Northern Illinois University Shootings 2/14/2008) [Was taking Xanax, Ambien, & Prozac] Apparently stopped taking Prozac days before after complaining of feeling like a 'zombie'.

Here is the FDA Black Box warning on antidepressants:

Suicidality in Children and Adolescents (pdf)

Antidepressants increased the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior (suicidality) in short-term studies in children and adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and other psychiatric disorders. Anyone considering the use of [Insert established name] or any other antidepressant in a child or adolescent must balance this risk with the clinical need. Patients who are started on therapy should be observed closely for clinical worsening, suicidality, or unusual changes in behavior. Families and caregivers should be advised of the need for close observation and communication with the prescriber.

You Should Watch for Certain Signs If Your Child is Taking an Antidepressant
• Thoughts about suicide or dying
• Attempts to commit suicide
• New or worse depression
• New or worse anxiety
• Feeling very agitated or restless
• Panic attacks
• Difficulty sleeping (insomnia)
• New or worse irritability
• Acting aggressive, being angry, or violent
• Acting on dangerous impulses
• An extreme increase in activity and talking
• Other unusual changes in behavior or mood

NIU Shooter's Girlfriend Confirms He Was On Antidepressants

And that he had recently stopped taking them. Big surprise.

She (Jessica Baty) confirmed that he had stopped taking an antidepressant about three weeks ago because "it made him feel like a zombie," but she denied that his recent behavior was unusual.

Another Mass Shooting Linked To "Medication"

It should come as no surprise by now that the recent Illinois shooter was taking some (as of yet) unnamed medication and became erratic when he stopped taking them. This is a pattern we have seen time and time again, and unfortunately, are doomed to see it continue to happen. Why? Because there's still too much money to be made. I can only guess what kinds of medication this killer was on....

What Do You Know - Another Anti-Depressant Crazed Mass Murderer

It should be no surprise that the 19 year old mass-murderer Robert Hawkins who killed 8 people as well as himself was taking anti-depressants. Is anyone else seeing a pattern here or is it just me??

Another mass murder, another link to anti-depressants

After the shock of the Virginia Tech shootings wear off, I hope that this nation will take this opportunity to ask this question: How much longer are we going to deny the link between shooting rampages and anti-depressants? The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Virginia Tech shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, was recently on anti-depressants and may have been taking them at the time of the shooting. Surprised? I'm not. As soon as I heard about the shootings, I began to wait for this detail to leak out. Of course there would be a link because, as I noted in a previous article, almost all of them are. Ironically, both shooters graduated from the high school.

It's clearly not enough that the FDA put it's most serious warning on the boxes of serotonin reuptake inhibitors, warning that users were more likely to commit suicide and engage in aggressive behaviors than people who were taking a placebo.

For God's sake! Pull this crap off the market!!

Another Study Says Antidepressants cause Violent Behavior

Regular readers might remember a post I did awhile back on antidepressants and how they've been shown to increase suicidal behavior. Today brings news of a new study (to be published in the Public Library of Science) that shows that the drug Paxil causes an increase in violent behavior over placebo. In the study, users of Paxil were twice as likely to have a violent episode than people who were given placebo. Unfortunately, it's the rest of society that has to pay for these violent outbursts.

Why Do We Keep Building Monsters?

This week brought another tragic violent suicidal outburst by a mentally ill teen. But far from being just another odd, sensless and tragic event, this shooting may add another data point to a trend many have been warning about for years. It is a trend that is comprised of several seemingly random shootings by teens, including (but not limited to) the following:

Columbine High School Shooting

Bishop Neumann High School shooting

Granite Hills High School shooting

Red Lake Shootings High School shootings

Thurston High School Shootings

The connection? All of the shooters were on SSRI anti-depressants. It’s possible the shooters in other mass shootings were also on anti-depressants but in many of these cases, the medical records of the shooters have been sealed.

At first, this connection might seem coincidental. Until you consider that in In 2000, the FDA issued a “black box” warning on SSRI anti-depressants. The warning states that ANTI-DEPRESSANTS INCREASE THE RISK OF SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AND BEHAVIORS! Yes, you read that right. In at least (24) different short term studies, children and adolescents who were given SSRIs for depression, OCD, or other ‘psychiatric disorders” had an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

And today, in an oddly coincidental story, the FDA warned that Paxil (another SSRI) ...may raise the risk of suicidal behavior in young adults.”

It is estimated that 20-30 million prescriptions are written each year for SSRIs in the United States alone. Keep in mind, a study in the International Journal Neuropsychopharmacology [September 2002;5(3):193-7] showed that placebos, i.e. “sugar pills” were slightly MORE EFFECTIVE in treating depression than SSRIs! This study reviewed 53 clinical trials comprised of 10,030 patients, so the results should cause one to question how much these drugs help.

We are quite literally gambling with the long term mental health of children and adolescents when we put them on psychotropic drugs. Don’t be fooled. The medical community barely understands the effects of SSRIs much less the long term consequences of modifying essential brain chemistry.