This Present Madness was published in November. During the rehearsal of an all-star high school band near Dallas, Texas, a gunman enters the practice hall and starts firing with a semi-automatic shotgun. His attack is deadly. It is the worst mass shooting in US history. The blame for it, as usual, is attributed to the extensive ownership of guns in American society. After … [Read more...] about This Present Madness
Violence
Down These Mean Streets
Editorial Note: This post that neatly ties together drug induced violence and dependence and withdrawal, the theme of the next few posts, is by Mickey Nardo. It featured on OneBoringOldMan a few weeks ago. It has a ring of a Raymond Chandler novel. Hence the image and the postscript. It was towards the end of today’s clinic. He was a big guy, friendly, seemed neither anxious … [Read more...] about Down These Mean Streets
Lessons from SSRIStories #5: What Does Research Tell Us About the Connection between SSRIs and Violence?
by Julie Wood Summary of Post #4: Medication-induced violence is different from regular violence. It can manifest as bizarre and random actions without apparent motive. Sometimes, it is based on a sudden impulse without any warning. Other times, thought distortion leads to elaborate plans, but the violence still makes no rational sense. In many cases, such as school or other … [Read more...] about Lessons from SSRIStories #5: What Does Research Tell Us About the Connection between SSRIs and Violence?
Lessons from SSRIStories #4: How is SSRI-Related Violence Different?
by Julie Wood Summary of Post #3: The same mechanisms that induce violence in users of SSRIs can induce suicide. These mechanisms are akathisia, emotional blunting and delirium-psychosis. These are not uncommon effects, although the degree to which individuals experience them varies, and people may experience more than one of these side effects at once. Fortunately, severe … [Read more...] about Lessons from SSRIStories #4: How is SSRI-Related Violence Different?
Lessons from SSRIStories #3: How do SSRIs cause violence and suicide?
by Julie Wood It is one thing to see that taking SSRI medications can cause violence in some people, but quite another to make sense of it. In his blog, “Prescription-Only Violence”, Feb 18, 2013, David Healy identifies the three mechanisms through which these drugs can cause a person to do violent things: “The antidepressants now come with black box warnings of suicide … [Read more...] about Lessons from SSRIStories #3: How do SSRIs cause violence and suicide?
Lessons from SSRIStories #2: Anecdotal Evidence of the SSRI-Violence Connection
by Julie Wood Summary of Post #1: Hard as it may be to accept, there is evidence that SSRIs, along with some other drugs, legal and illegal, can cause people to become violent. The connection between psychoactive medications and violence is not understood. News reports that mention psychoactive medications in a story about a violent incident tend to treat the drugs as “proof” … [Read more...] about Lessons from SSRIStories #2: Anecdotal Evidence of the SSRI-Violence Connection
How Do SSRIs (and other medications) Cause Violence and why don’t people spot the connection?
by Julie Wood The connection between SSRIs, violence and suicide For many years, a few medical experts have been trying to raise awareness of the link between selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants (and some other medications) and violence. The RxISK.org website Violence Zone flags the issue for people interested in researching the side effects of their … [Read more...] about How Do SSRIs (and other medications) Cause Violence and why don’t people spot the connection?
Study 329 Stories
Kristina Gehrki It is refreshing to see the BMJ publish an article highlighting the corruption, collusion and dangerously unethical behaviors among the pharmaceutical and psychiatric industries, university medical departments and government "regulators." I'd like to tell my teen-aged daughter all about the "retraction." Unfortunately, she died from SSRI-induced akathisia, … [Read more...] about Study 329 Stories
Study 329
RxISK's last story featured a young woman who went on Paxil soon after the Keller et al version of Study 329 was published. We would love to hear more from anyone who was put on an SSRI during this period or who was recruited into an SSRI trial. What were you told about the risks and what happened to you? Study 329 has just gone live. The Restoring Study 329 article with its … [Read more...] about Study 329
Antidepressants and Violence: The Numbers
How on earth could an antidepressant drug drive someone to murder? In the past two columns RxISK has heard from two people who know they can. In The Man Who Thought He Was A Monster, Steindor Erlingsson shared his own story of being tormented with urges to stab his wife and young children while on antidepressants. These were utterly alien thoughts, which horrified him – he … [Read more...] about Antidepressants and Violence: The Numbers