SSRI Medications Involved in Mass Shootings?

This is actually in the wrong forum and is not a conspiracy. It's also not being done on purpose. Not sure which forum it should go in but this is considered a fact.

Yale School of Medicine Professor of Psychiatry Malcolm B. Bowers, Jr, MD wrote:

Illicit drugs aren't the only ones that precipitate psychosis or mania—prescribed drugs can too, and in particular, some psychiatric drugs. We investigated this and found that about 1 in 12 psychotic or manic patients in an inpatient psychiatric facility are there due to antidepressant-induced psychosis or mania. That's unfortunate for the field [of psychiatry] and disastrous for some of our patients.

To get into one of these facilities you need to be a life threatening danger to yourself or others. Usually others. So this is actually confirmed and no conspiracy. Hopefully no one shows up and shoots me for this. If I disappear you guys know what happened to me.

It is important to be understood here. I want to call attention to the fact that some persons with a family history of even the subtler forms of bipolar disorder or psychosis are more vulnerable than others to the mania- or psychosis-inducing potential of antidepressants, stimulants and sleeping medications. While I'm not making a blanket statement against these medications, I am urging caution in their use.

en.wikipedia.org...

Psychosis is a blanket symptom. People who suffer from it are often delusional. When you think of delusions you need to realize this can encompass things such as a strong belief that people are sending radio waves into your brain to control you. You don't need to be seeing things or even hearing things. People who suffer from this type of medication induced psychosis are highly dangerous.

So you can take a patient with a mild mental disorder and turn them into a full blown psychotic. IMHO the recent influx of foreign graduates who do not take the same curriculum as american doctors could be partially to blame. Also for those that do not know any MD can call themselves a Psychiatrist. At least in my state. So IMO this could be due to poor medical care and people caring more about the dollar then the patient.

This is usually the case. I have had to diagnose myself in the past because doctors have almost killed me. I have ended up in emergency rooms because of bad drugs when the doctor could have prevented it. I should have sued them. In my case it was foreign graduates. I now only see doctors with degrees from american universities.

reply to post by darkbake


I have been doing research on SSRI medications, and a recent empirical study has shown that people experience a loss of emotions, even loss of empathy while on them. This results in no depressed mood, but also no mood overall. They are also known to make manic episodes worse.

In addition, they can increase psychotic episodes - according to another poster in this forum, 1 in 12 people in mental institutions with psychotic or manic symptoms are there because of SSRI medications.

reply to post by Pimpintology


Thank you, that is great information. One problem that I ran into regarding people misreading the facts was an article in the Wall Street Journal that used the mass shootings as evidence that more people needed to be on medications - however, many of those involved in mass shootings, such as James Holmes, were on medications - some not even prescribed.+

reply to post by darkbake


Actually, I believe Holmes suffered from paranoid schizophrenia...All the symptoms were there and from what I recall he looked as if he was on some heavy duty antipsychotics more like old school, maybe thorazine.

SSRI's do not have the same somnolent effect as antipsychotics do.

Pax

reply to post by darkbake

They are also known to make manic episodes worse.

Yes, this is true, there is the possibility. That is why if you are giving to someone who also has a mood disorder, such as bipolar or schizoaffective disorder you need to make sure the doctor prescribes a mood stabilizer along with antidepressant. Otherwise, you will just cycle in and out of depression not getting better.

Pax

reply to post by paxnatus


Or maybe all this tinkering around with drugs most people know very little about is super dangerous and one of the main reasons we see so much off-the-wall behavior from people taking them. There is no scientific proof for the validity of these "mood disorders". Nothing to suggest there is a specific chemical imbalance. Where is the blood test or brain scan? No way to measure serotonin in the first place. So how do we know for certain some people have a little schizophrenia here and a pinch of bipolar there and a tiny bit of depression here.

This is just hair-brained thinking and we have all been duped.

reply to post by paxnatus


p.s. You are not a medical doctor so please stop giving medical advice.

Thanks.

reply to post by corsair00


I did not feel the need to to state my credentials and you are right I am not a medical doctor but I am a Nurse Practitioner ..
I have 17+ years experience in several fields of nursing, namely trauma and psychiatry.

I was only suggesting what I know i never said give a specific drug with a specific antidepressant, take daily with food.

I'm not trying to be a smartass I am going from what I have experienced in years as a professional in the medical field..

Thanks,
Pax

I was on prescription SSRI's from 2005 to 2013 (when a friend of mine who was also a psychologist actually figured out the real cause of my depression). While the SSRI's were of such minimal help, that I considered them pointless, I did not enter a killing spree. However, instead of assuming the SSRI's are directly responsible, consider this.

When I was first prescribed SSRI's I was told that they will initially make me feel as if I had more energy, and that more energy could give me the push to do something unfortunate, meaning suicide.

Maybe thats the mechanism in play here. The SSRI's are doing their job, making them feel more energetic, and able to act out their real personality.

I don't think SSRI's are wholly to blame, I think their underlying persona has to shoulder some if not most of the blame.

All I can say is that I am seriously glad they got to the root cause of my depression, its not a nice thing to have to live with, and if SSRI's help a person overcome depression (in my case they didn't and now that they know thee real cause, they would never have helped anyway), then the risk is worth taking providing proper medical monitoring is provided.

reply to post by MystikMushroom


So MY experience is what? A lie? I'm crazy? Nope no dementia as of last month.And some people are given these by "Trained Medical" personel who ARE NOT trained in the effects of neurochemistry and it's effects on behavior. NEVERTHELESS they are throwing depression into diagnoses they have NO business claiming.
You can't dismiss EXPERIENCE,as so many often try to do.

Only a PHD psychiatrist is qualified.

a reply to: darkbake

Five years ago i was prescribed venlafaxine (snri) I took it for 6 weeks, the first 2 weeks were not nice physcially, but as i had researched the side effects I expected that and dealt with it.

At the 6 week point, I had developed agrophobia, almost constant panic attacks, high anxiety levels constantly etc. I stopped taking the drug and arranged to see the gp. By the time the appointment arrived a couple of weeks later, the immediate effects had worn off, (shaking sweating etc) the gp thought i had developed a serotonin sensitivity.

Fast forward 5 years, i discover that I was actually suffering from serotonin syndrome by the time i stopped taking the snri. I have never recovered from taking this medication. My memory has changed from being amazingly good, previousy being able to recite lists of random facts for hours, having the ability to win almost ever general knowledge quiz i have ever entered, to struggling to remember what i had for dinner last night. I still know the same facts, but get them all confused, connecting the wrong dates, or names, etc.

My personality has changed, from being a sociable person to someone who shuns company. I am now almost a recluse.

I have also been suffering from physical symptoms for the past year, mainly aches and pains in my legs, which seem to be periphial nerve damage, although that has yet to be proven medically, I am waiting for tests to verify this.

For me, this drug seems to have caused long lasting side effects, 5 years on i am wondering if these side effects are permanant. I had never been so mentally ill, no bout of depression or emotional wobble that i have ever experienced has been as nasty or long lasting as the damage caused by this snri. Given my life experiences that really is a bold statement.

I can see that if my life circumstances had been slightly different, it wouldn't be a huge stretch of the imagination to see how these side effects could have pushed me into murderous impulses.

Many people have experienced similar problems to mine because of these meds, many others feel ssri's and snri's are magic pills which have saved their lives.

Snri's took my personality away, along with almost every life skill i had ever developed, I am now in the process of relearning skills like cooking and decorating (i used to work as a painter and decorator, was considered very good).

No one can tell who will respond in a positive manner from those who will be destroyed by such chemicals, my experience is that they are more dangerous than valium, ritalin and other controlled drugs.