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 medications. Still, the average person does not believe this to be true. The idea that a prescription could cause a person to do something totally out of character seems counter-intuitive. However strange the idea may seem, the evidence is clear.
This five-part series of posts draws on the lessons offered by SSRIStories’ 6,000+ news articles about the relationship between antidepressants, violence and suicide. The aim is to help people better understand how antidepressants (and some other medications) cause violence and suicide, and to expose the single biggest misunderstanding that has stopped people from spotting the connection.
The issue is explored from the perspective of experience. The posts attempt to answer some tough questions: What does it feel like to be one of those people who has a bad reaction to an antidepressant? What causes them to hurt others? Why would someone commit violence or suicide with no warning? Why would nice people with no history of violence do something completely out of character? What does the research tell us, and how should we interpret it?
How does the evidence from carefully planned studies stack up against “anecdotal” evidence, i.e. reports of individual personal experiences? Some researchers pay no attention to anecdotal evidence. There is a belief in medical science that the “gold standard” for learning about drug effects is randomized control trials (RCT). Unfortunately RCT have inherent limitations, and the data from them can be misrepresented, as Study 329 proved (see Restoring Study 329). Researchers may view individual cases as anomalies because they are single incidents, especially if they do not align with published research. Research can prove that pigs can’t fly, and this finding seems intuitively correct. However, when enough people independently report seeing pigs soaring through the air, it is time to take a second look at the research.
SSRIstories.org is a collection of thousands of “anecdotes”, reported in news articles and transcripts of legal cases, involving people who appear to have done something violent (including suicide) as the result of taking antidepressants. The collection contains many stories in which people have figured out that their medication was a factor in their misfortunes. In most of these cases, officialdom (courts, coroners, the media) overlook or deny the drug-violence connection. They favour explanations that place the blame elsewhere, usually on “mental illness”. Since people who are taking psychoactive medication have usually been diagnosed with something, this explanation seems to fit.
Many other anecdotes are reported by people who share their SSRI experiences in internet chat rooms, where they candidly discuss some horrific drug effects and learn from the experiences of others. Even though these discussions are nothing like controlled experiments, it is difficult to discount the phenomenon of so many people reporting similar experiences in great detail.
The great illusion
The general public – and, it seems, their governments – firmly believe that mentally ill people are dangerous. They cling to this belief because they think they understand.
However, the situation is more complex than has been portrayed to them. The public knows what they see, and what they see appears to confirm their belief. When the magician puts the rabbit in the hat and waves his wand, everyone sees the rabbit disappear. The magician tips his hat and the audience can see that the rabbit is gone, but things are not as they appear. The rabbit is actually safe in a concealed compartment. Like the magician’s illusion, the myth of the dangerous mentally ill depends for its perpetuation on keeping the audience (the public) from seeing what is really going on:
- The mental illness that the public is so afraid of is largely a by-product of the medication given to alleviate mental illness. The random and bizarre acts of violence that people associate with “mental illness” are actually caused by medication. Psychoactive medications are often initially prescribed for minor and usually transient emotional experiences, not illnesses at all. With medication, these minor issues can turn into severe and chronic illnesses [1]. The medications that are hyped as a cure for chemical imbalances are actually what cause the chemical imbalances; and
- People who stop taking their medications, for whatever reason, can experience withdrawal effects which are perceived as “relapse”, and proof that the person needs the drugs and should never have stopped taking them.
The magician’s disappearing rabbit trick is harmless and enjoyable. The illusion of the dangerous mentally ill is destructive and costly. People who have taken psychoactive drugs too often get locked in a vicious circle. When they experience negative side-effects, such as agitation, insomnia or paranoia, these are interpreted as new or worsening signs of inherent mental illness, to be treated with more drugs. In other words, when people have bad reactions to these poisons, the officially sanctioned solution is more of the very poison that caused the harm. This syndrome has cost many people their health, their freedom, and sometimes their lives.
Why don’t most people spot the connection between SSRIs and violence?
People believe that mentally ill people are the ones who become violent because of the Great Illusion. The idea that somehow mental illness leads to violence fits with the facts as presented to them. Journalists, like everyone else, have been fooled, and for them the illusion would only be reinforced by verifying their interpretation with experts such as psychiatrists, or in relying on the interpretations of those experts. Consequently, the public sees and hears news involving violence that “proves” to them that mentally ill people are dangerous, and must be isolated and controlled. News coverage conveys to them that:
- mentally ill people threaten public safety. Every year, a number are shot by police in public while causing disturbances. Often the victims are behaving in unusual ways, but are not a threat to anyone. Whenever such an incident occurs, it is widely reported. The role of drugs is only discussed if the drugs are illegal, and only then are they described as a contributing cause. Each time, a few citizens express concern (but not outrage), no charges are laid, an inquest acknowledges the importance of public safety and calls for better police training, and the incident is closed;
- when senseless violent crimes are committed it is because of inherent mental illness. Psychoactive drugs are sometimes mentioned, but not as a cause of the incident. They are mentioned only as proof that the perpetrator was mentally ill; and
- mentally ill people cannot be counted on to take their meds, because they simply do not have the judgement and the capacity to know what is good for them, and thus intervention is necessary to force such people to take their prescribed medication, for public protection. Legislation that sanctions forced drugging sends a message to citizens that the drugs are beneficial and once medicated, these people will no longer be a threat.
The foundation for this misguided conventional wisdom appears solid because reported facts appear to fit the reported stories. However, just as the magician seems to make the rabbit vanish, when the rabbit is really just not visible, things are not as they appear. People who have been diagnosed may be disproportionately responsible for public disturbances and senseless acts of violence, but what the public is actually witnessing is not the phenomenon they have been led to believe it is.
SSRIstories.org has thousands of reports of people whose serious problems began when they were given medication. The problems for which they were prescribed meds like SSRIs are trivial compared to the disasters that ultimately get them into the news. The official interpretation in these cases is that the people who did these bad things were mentally ill, and despite treatment they became worse and committed the violent act. Nobody wonders if the extreme worsening was because of the treatment.
Key to maintaining this destructive illusion is the public’s lack of understanding of the difference between “ordinary” madness, and drug-induced delirium-psychosis. Madness that evolves without medication is very different from the state that can result from taking, or stopping, legal or illegal drugs. It is the drug-induced delirium-psychosis that causes violence, and that is behind the most terrible violent incidents in the news.
SSRIs and alcohol
Conventional wisdom has it that mentally ill people drink to “self-medicate”, and there is no doubt that troubled people have drowned their sorrows as long as
alcoholic drinks have existed. However, the illusion is at work here, too.
Addiction and crime are associated, and addiction and mental health issues are associated. The general assumption is that mental illness leads to substance use (to alleviate symptoms, or “self-medicating”) which becomes addiction and leads to crime. But what if prescription medications lead to mental illness and addictions, which in turn lead to the commission of crimes?
Medical literature is full of proof that mental illness and substance abuse are linked, the assumption being that mental illness leads to addiction. In Anatomy of an Epidemic, author Robert Whitaker observes:
“Fifty years ago, physicians virtually never saw manic-depressive illness in preteens, and they rarely diagnosed it in adolescents. Then pediatricians and psychiatrists began prescribing Ritalin…and suddenly the medical journals began running case reports of manic children. This problem grew as the prescribing or Ritalin increased, and then it exploded with the introduction of the SSRIs.” [1]
Whitaker then cites research showing that “the long-term prognosis for these children is grim… pre-adult onset is associated with greater rates of comorbid anxiety disorders and substance abuse.” [2] This clearly suggests than in the cause-and-effect puzzle of mental illness, medication and addiction, it was medication that came first.
Research intended to show one thing can occasionally reveal things it does not intend. For example, one study, the aim of which was to identify optimal treatment strategies for people with bipolar diagnosis noted:
“Substance use disorders and bipolar disorders are associated with mutually increased risk… Patients with the combination are more impulsive and are at greater risk for suicidal or violent behavior than are subjects with either illness alone…those with combined disorders have earlier onset of illness… [4]
This study took as a given that substance abuse and bipolar are strongly related. Taking into account Whitaker’s observation, this begs the question of the extent to which medicating children led to both their bipolar problems and their substance abuse.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) conducted the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, one of the largest surveys of its kind ever performed, and found, among other things, that:¸
“People who are dependent on drugs are more likely to have an alcohol use disorder than people with alcoholism are to have a drug use disorder.” [5]
The NIAAA was referring to illegal drugs, but the finding leads one to wonder if perhaps something in drug use increases peoples’ inclination to drink.
Anne Marie’s March 15 2012 Blog, on DavidHealy.org: Out of My Mind, Driven to Drink points out that many people taking SSRIs develop a craving for alcohol. Then, when they do drink, the combination of the drug and alcohol magnifies the effects of both substances. Once she described her own experience, many people came forward verifying that this had also happened to them, or to someone they know. So, while alcohol may be the direct trigger for problems, SSRIs lead some individuals to alcoholism who never had a drinking problem before.
Problems of withdrawal
Negative reactions caused by these medications are most likely to occur upon starting, following a dose change, and when a person stops taking the medication. Stopping these medications can cause serious withdrawal effects. The anger, irritability and even rage associated with withdrawal can lead to extreme overreactions. This is acknowledged in internet blog posts and SSRI withdrawal forums:
- “The most distressing symptom for myself was severe mood swings, which have only worsened since coming off the [citalopram] completely. Usually a calm person, I am now incredibly short-tempered and irritable. I can snap at the drop of a hat, and just become a completely different person.”
- “Anger is a normal human emotion…we’ve developed sophisticated ways of expressing and dealing with anger. We use discussion and logic to make anger
serve us in productive ways. SSRI withdrawal turns this normal process on its head. In withdrawal, anger forms independently in the mind. Instead of rising in response to an external event, withdrawal causes anger without context. You’re just angry. There’s no event or emotion preceding it, it just pops into your head.”
- “I have been taking Lexapro for GAD for around 4 years. I have tried going off of it before (gradually and cold turkey) because I felt I didn’t need it due to finally being diagnosed and treated for narcolepsy. I also don’t enjoy the side effects (no sex drive, difficulty achieving orgasm, etc). However, every time I get withdrawal symptoms of extreme anger and rage after being Lexapro free for about a month. I’ve never had anger issues before.”
- “…the withdrawal symptoms of Zoloft were brutal…I would move and my brain would stand still. It would spin, I became very angry and agitated. I still lash out at my husband for no reason. It is horrible.”
- “…then I dropped the Effexor completely and continued the Wellbutrin. Within 2 days I began to have ringing in my ears, a chugging sensation in my head, diarrhea, cold sweats — and that’s not the 1/2 of it. The irritability, fits of rage, overwhelming sadness, thoughts of death, nightmares and more are the hard part.”
- “There have been times when I have ran out [of Paxil] due to procrastination and suffered horrible withdrawal effects just like everyone else listing here has. Without Paxil I feel constant anxiety, RAGE–MAJOR anger over petty things, paranoia, black depression and utter hopelessness.”
- “SSRI withdrawals are some of the worst I’ve ever had and I’ve had a fair variety and experience of withdrawals over the years. Physically it’s unpleasant enough, but mentally I was fuckin’ insane. I was pretty much psychotic at points – quite hysterical and seeing/”communicating with” things that weren’t there. Awake for days on end. Losing my rag with anybody and everybody over anything and everything. Cutting bizarre, nihilistic “words of wisdom” into my flesh with glass/razors. Was seriously nasty.”
These are just a small selection of comments on the subject of SSRI-withdrawal-induced anger. It would be hard to read such comments and not wonder about the connection between SSRI withdrawal and violent acts committed in fits of sudden and senseless rage. Still, news articles seldom point this out when they report a violent act, even if they mention that the perpetrator recently stopped taking antidepressant medication.
Medication withdrawal effects are important to sustaining the illusion. A few experts have spoken out for years about how difficult withdrawal from SSRIs can be. However, until recently, the official story was that these meds are not addictive, the effects of withdrawing are short-lived and easily managed, and the worst potential consequence of withdrawal is relapse into the original depression. Harvard Health provides a typical example of this information. [6] So, when people stop taking a medication and become violent, this is interpreted as proof that without their medication, they cannot function normally. The withdrawal effects are perceived as “the real person”.
Recently, research has acknowledged that withdrawal effects can be long-lasting, worse than the original condition for which the SSRIs were prescribed, and often include new symptoms. [7] Withdrawal symptoms include confusion, aggression, disorientation, agitation, panic, irritability, anger, depersonalization and mood swings. Less common, but not rare, symptoms include intensification of suicidal ideation and psychosis. [8]
- Anatomy of an Epidemic, Crown Publishers. 2010 by Robert Whitaker, covers this phenomenon extensively
- Ibid Page 242
- Ibid Page 243
- Bipolar disorder and substance abuse: two disorders or one?, by Alan Swann, Journal of Dual Diagnosis, 1(3), 2005, pp.9-23.
- Alcohol Alert, July 2008, EPIDEMIOLOGY: How common is alcohol and other drug addiction?http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/AA76/AA76.htm
- See Going off antidepressants, Harvard Women’s Health Watch http://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/going-off-antidepressants
- Withdrawal Symptoms after Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Discontinuation: A Systematic Review, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 2015; 84:72-81, Fava et al.
- New Classification of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Withdrawal, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 2015;84:63-71, Chouinard G.
annie says
I think the concept which has harmed us physically and mentally is the term, invented by Pharma, Anti-depressant.
Anti-depressant is firmly stamped on the mind of most prescribers which says what it is Anti-depressant.
Then we have Selective Serotonin ReUptake Inhibitors.
This is science territory now as Pharmaceuticals Companies employ Scientists.
Two coup concepts totally acceptable to those whose job it is to write a Prescription.
As an Anecdote we have learned differently that all is not as it seems.
I was telling doctors until I was blue in the face, my behaviour became psychotic, I couldn’t believe highly educated doctors were becoming insulting, and, all this from the Coup of A-D and SSRI.
Rxisk has educated us, as ingesters, but, how much further could it go?
We can’t take books, reports, articles with us into our surgeries and hospitals and educate those people in charge in our welfare.
Who is going to educate them for us?
I think the most necessary part of the problem is to describe fully and briefly the myth of SSRI and how Serotonin appears to be the lost leader.
It is obvious that starting, stopping, restarting, prescribers ridiculous habitual methods of bad withdrawal techniques needs to be imbedded in every physicians head and this is not happening, it is getting worse with more a-ds prescribed than ever before.
There is a sick, sinking feeling that before we know it, every person on the planet will be on a psychotropic drug of some sort as it seems to be going that way.
I agree with Julie and her article, how do we dismantle this Spin Machine which plays havoc with our nervous systems and our every day place in society.
It is shockingly unfair that those we trust have closed minds to even learn where this came from and why these chemicals produce violent reactions when those trusted treat them as if they were average everyday teabags.
There is no Government Body remotely interested in Mind Games from Pharma, and, we are very lucky that we can come here and maybe not find the answers, but, at least have some understanding of why we ended up in the positions we did.
It shouldn’t be like this, but it is, and, put on the spot by doctors, and, they get away it, daily, has become a terrifying reality.
What do others think about Anecdotes?
Julie Wood says
Annie it is so interesting, I had a long talk with a friend today (whose ex-husband turned into a monster when he was prescribed Paxil and she had to leave him) about why doctors do not see the clear evidence of what these drugs can do. We decided that it was probably because suicides get attributed to the depression, violence reactions are rare enough that physicians do not make the connection, and for the huge number of people whose spouses and loved ones suffer, the doctors never see and hear their point of view. The docs hear only from the people who no longer give a damn about their loved ones. There are just so many layers of problems, with these meds. Julie
Johanna says
The point is really well taken that psych meds “are often initially prescribed for minor and usually transient emotional experiences, not illnesses at all.” That probably accounts for the majority of prescriptions these days. However, these drugs are also given to people with psychoses and other serious conditions that can mess with your ability to interpret reality. What then? When violence or bizarre and upsetting behavior occurs in those already prone to delusions and paranoia, is it the meds or is it the illness?
I still think a big part of the answer is the medications – especially the neuroleptics used for schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. There have probably always been a small number of cases in which people with acute psychoses do violent things. However, the drugs, which cause so many people to feel slowed-down and passive, can also cause unbearable agitation in a minority—and not such a small minority. Not to mention that over-reliance on the drugs to “cure” psychosis has probably made the treatment experience more coercive and traumatic, not less.
David Healy’s research on hospital records from 100 years ago indicates that suicide is MUCH more common among people with schizophrenia today than it was then, even after analyzing records carefully to include only people who would be called “schizophrenic” by today’s standards. Is the same thing true of irrational aggression against others? It would certainly make sense.
It’s not just schizophrenia at issue. Last week the New York Times carried an op-ed piece by Andrew Solomon worrying that in the wake of the Sandy Hook and Oregon shootings, people with autism were being stigmatized as violent. (Solomon is a writer who has struggled with depression himself, and is a frequent spokesperson for the mental health establishment.) Both young shooters had histories of mental-health treatment for problems that sounded vaguely like autism spectrum disorders.
This is a stereotype that didn’t exist twenty years ago: the violent young autistic man. Why should it surface now, when so many more young people are getting treatment due to greater “awareness” of the illness? Solomon is right to protest. Sadly, though, his answer was simply to refocus the search for psychiatric solutions on a much more poorly understood diagnosis: Psychopathy. He urged an intensive hunt for “biomarkers” that would let us screen for it and intervene at earlier ages …
Julie Wood says
You have hit on the crux of the crisis: these drugs are given to people with psychoses and other serious conditions and from that point on, any and all deterioration gets attributed to the worsening of the original problem. Nobody ever asks why worsening is so commonplace if these drugs are so great, but I have noticed that in hundreds and hundreds of news articles the folks in charge seem to miss what should be an obvious question: Since things got so much worse after the drugs were given, why isn’t anybody curious about the role of the drugs? Don’t they see? (No, they do not.)
We now know from the work of Harrow and others that people who are prone to psychosis enjoy better emotional and cognitive recovery in the long run without meds. We also know that neuroleptics cause horrific neurological, metabolic, and other physical damage which strangely has escaped any FDA boxed warning requirements.
Perhaps observing the effect that neuroleptics have on people in crisis from psychosis leads doctors to conclude that they are effective (of course in some circumstances, their effecrs can be useful). However, apart from the risk of akathisia, we know that “anti-psychotics” do not eliminate odd thoughts or replace them with constructive reactions, they just make people more passive and quiet. Consequently, the more important question than: “Is it the meds or is it the illness?” is “Why are we offering treatments that cause more harm than good instead of looking for effective alternatives”?
Carla says
Agree with you 100%, Annie.
Anecdotes are conveniently used to deny the truth.
Unfortunately, it is about ‘profits before people’.
It seems like everyone is on some kind of medicine today.
Are we the last ‘drug free’ species standing?
When I try to educate people, they are either shocked or in denial about what these medicines can induce.
I say, this will be one of History’s worst mistakes, to have ever come up with these dubious medicines.
Nothing is pure anymore.
It is all tainted.
Sad that the media is unable to state the TRUTH when a tragedy happens.
What is happening to the human race?
The average person would not have a clue about what we are on about.
This website, somehow, needs to reach out to people before they go on the meds.
This ‘culture of pill popping’ is becoming unfortunately, increasingly popular. Like some kind of fad.
Like Rory commented: ‘They hand them out like smarties’- A systemic problem which will eventually lead to regret.
Karl says
I think the pills especially antidepressants for most often temporary illnesses end up causing people much more harm in the long run resulting in worst mental health problems. I was tricked into the serotonin imbalance theory a decade ago given seroxat and it has destroyed me physically and mentally over 3 years off I doubt I will ever fully recover and be who I was before taking this so called medicine. I was a young vulnerable 20 year old trusted my doctor who told me it was completely safe non addictive etc
Whithout sounding like a conspiracy nut job I truly believe some pharmacutical companies know the deadly and irreversible effects off these drugs and by making people unwell they are creating life long patients who will need more drugs to treat the adverse effects off the first with more being added etc
Its corruption at the highest level to help them rake in billions with no concern for the people maimed or killed as long as the money keeps rolling in.
What makes me laugh is the medical profession psychiatrists gps cpns etc are trained to believe these drugs are highly effective and there helping people treating them with these toxins.
So what hope have vulnerable people got if the medical professionals dispensing these neurotoxic life destroying poisons like smarties actually believe there doing the right thing ? Bob and no hope springs to mind
Most gps psychiatrists would look at you as if you we’re a raving basket case if you tried to explain to them what the drugs have done to you once you’ve been damaged by them giving them more evidence in there mind to prescribe you more drugs.
I take my hat off to Dr David Healy and the others that run this site to help people but I think a lot off people reach this site to late once there harmed by these drugs looking for answers for what’s hapened to them.
I don’t think until mainstream medicine accepts that these drugs are not as safe as there portrayed and the so called pill to treat every ill mentality is abolished I think the proper treatment off the mentally ill has a long way to go.
I’m not totally anti medication for people severely mentally distressed but the bottom line is pills make the powers that be millions and therapy alternative treatments don’t it’s a sad state off affairs that is damaging the most vulnerable people’s lives.
NHS Mental healthcare in most of the uk at present is a joke I worked in it for years people have to wait months for help often given a limit off 5 therapy sessions under the so called therapy for you. Most people are palmed off with a prescription for drugs to treat them and keep them quiet. The amount off people I know on these ssris now is truly worrying I know some family’s that there all on them mum dad grandma son daughter and there all longtermers it’s truly worrying.
Julie Wood says
I hope that you are wrong and that you do fully recover, and it is wrong that you had to go through what you did. I too wonder how the pharma execs avoid knowing but I have come to believe that they just live in denial about what the drugs really do. They probably have all got sucked into believing their own marketing messages and actually accept that the drugs help most people and that only a very rare minority are seriously harmed.
Carla says
Anecdotes are disregarded because it is not used as crucial evidence towards ‘out of character behaviour’.
In the near future, I believe that people from all walks of life, will make the connection.
Unfortunately, like Karl mentioned, people only come to this website when it is too late.
One day, big pharma will have to include our stories as part of their negative clinical data trials.
The fact that the information is suppressed, is a real ‘travesty of justice’.
Do not ever believe, that our experiences are in vain.
The common thread of reoccurring themes and patterns, will be the missing information Big Pharma has deleted.
Do not fear.
Hope is within our reach.
Those who do wrong, will eventually be held accountable.
It is only a matter of time…………………………………..
Carla says
SSRI’s and other medicines, in my opinion are no different to alcohol or other recreational drugs, They somehow impact the part of the brain that makes people lose: all control of conformity. The ‘out of control’ behaviour, such as violence, would never be attributed by medicines because of the following:
A) Doctors, psychologists, other professions and patients have been ‘programmed’ to believe that these medicines would never induce these kinds of behavioural issues because this kind of information is omitted???
B) whatever your doctor says, has to be true.
C) If the government endorses it, it’s definitely going to be good.
D) How can big organisations such drug corporations be sly enough to sell things that are bad for you, or why would they ever conceal information?
E) Some of these drugs have been around for a very long time. They have to be good if they survived the test of time.
F) Very good organisations such as Beyond blue and lifeline indorse some of these drugs. They have to be good.
G) Forums and the media always promote the positive effects of these drugs, and never mention the side-effects/ adverse reactions or deaths.
H) If the truth about these medicines is revealed, how on earth are Big Pharma and doctors ever going to make money?
I) Big corporations don’t want the TRUTH to come out OR ELSE it will effect their PROFITS
Awareness of these drugs and the impact of these medicines, starts off slowly. Once there is a re-occurring theme and pattern which emerges from ingesting these medicines, people start to make the connection. It took a long time for people to understand that smoking causes cancer. These medicines are no different. If it is not debated or discussed through the media, how can people make the connection.
karl friend says
I totaly agree with what you said Carla only in hindsight now off Seroxat I can now see how my behaviour and actions changed for the worst while taking it doing things i wouldnt have done etc at the time I was completely unaware off it while on the drug.
Julie Wood says
I think that one of the most dangerous things about the drugs is that most of the time, people are unable to see how dramatically they have changed, while they are on the drug. It is really scary. My friend who lost her husband to Paxil (Seroxat) says that after he started taking the drug (for something minor) he lost all his motivation (and his job) started to gamble and use drugs and became abusive, and he started blaming her for everything that was wrong. But he never accepted that the drug had anything to do with completely changing his personality.
karl friend says
I still see this site as a lifeline for many in trouble after stopping these drugs and not knowing what the hell has happened to them. It enables them to find answers to whats hapened to them which they almost definitely wouldn’t get if they spoke to there prescriber physician etc that put them in this predicament. I know if I had seen this site before being given Seroxat or another ssri and read other peoples horror storys about these drugs I would have avoided them like the plague.
Gail says
Our son, Zach, stopped taking Zoloft. Read more about his and our family’s nightmare at:
http://www.iamnotsilent.net
Carla says
I believe there are a lot of loved ones suffering out there, as a result of ingesting these ‘poisons’.
When are all the lies going to STOP!
When someone does something that is out of character, we have to STOP and think WHY this is happening?
If an individual is of ‘sound moral character’ and suddenly commits an act of suicide, murder or some other sinister incident, we always have to ask ourselves:
‘Was the individual in question, on any medicines or drugs?’
I don’t take anything I hear/read or see as gospel.
I always think outside the box.
Just recently, there was an interview regarding Robin Williams (comedian) death.
Apparently, he had depression and was ingesting antidepressants.
This is what they initially informed the populace about.
Now, they are saying his death was also a result of him having the early onset of dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
Could the medicines in question also have contributed to the onset of these diseases????
They know the TRUTH but refuse to highlight the TRUTH.
Only those who have experienced what these antidepressants can induce, will understand the connection.
They not only induce violence but can also induce a whole array of medical problems- cognitive impairment : (
rachel says
Wow. I didn’t realize how common this reaction was. My doctor put me on an SSRI for anxiety related to chronic back pain and within a week or two, I could tell that something wasn’t right. I started spending a lot of time thinking of ways to kill people. It was actually scary to me how my mind went so dark and violent in such a short time. Within just a few weeks, I was spending 90% of my time plotting against people I didn’t even know. After about 2 months, I couldn’t do it anymore. I was scaring myself and my husband. Now I have a red flag alert in my medical chart for SSRI’s. I never heard anything about homicidal thoughts or tendencies as one of the side effects, so this article actually helped me understand it a little better.