An Uncomfortable Truth: Does the Rise of Antidepressants and SSRIs Fuel Mass Shootings?

The more gun control laws that are passed, the more mass murders have occurred

• According to the FBI, a mass murder occurs when at least four people are murdered, not including the shooter, over a relatively short period of time during a single incident
• School shootings have also seen an exponential growth during the last three decades
• 97.8% of public shootings occur in 'gun-free zones'
• These types of zones are the epitome of the core philosophical tenet of gun control, that laws are all the defense one needs against violence
• When the media and politicians focus their ire on guns, specifically what types of guns are used, such as AR-styles, carbines, semi-automatics, and high capacity handguns, in the wake of such tragedies the American public are being intentionally drawn into an emotionally charged debate about legal gun ownership

History of antidepressant use in the US

• To understand the rise in antidepressant use, one must first understand depression
• Everyone experiences periods of sadness, especially when faced with hardships or going through things like a divorce, the loss of a job, or the death of a parent.
• Clinical depression is a serious mental disorder that impacts how a person functions on a daily basis

Understanding depression

• According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), to be considered clinically depressed, a patient must experience five of the following: Sadness, Anxiety, Feeling hopeless, Feeling worthless, Irritable, Fatigue, Restlessness, Trouble concentrating
• Today, with the way antidepressants are prescribed, nearly one in four Americans will meet the criteria to be diagnosed with depression within their lifetime, and will be prescribed medications that interfere with how their brain functions

The Rise of Antidepressants

• The first generation of antidepressants (1950s-1980s) were monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), highly effective but prone to side effects.
• Tricyclic antidepressants (late 1950s-late 60s) became available and remained the go-to depression treatment until the 1980s
• Quaaludes, a benzodiazepine used for anxiety, was over-prescribed and became a Schedule 1 drug, making them illegal to sell, buy, and use
• Prozac, the first SSRI, was released in 1987 and showed that depression could be the underlying cause of anxiety
• Direct-to-consumer advertising became legal in 1985 and SSRI sales skyrocketed

SSRIs 101: What you should know

• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are second-generation antidepressants that are safe and effective, with minimal side effects.

How do SSRIs work?

• SSRI medication does exactly what its name says - inhibit the reuptake of serotonin, causing neurons to release more of the neurotransmitter, therefore increasing the amount of the chemical found in the brain.
• When two neurons communicate, one releases neurotransmitters, which causes the other neuron to react in a certain way.
• To keep the brain’s chemical balance correct, neurons regulate the amount released by a process called Reuptake.

Serotonin syndrome

• A potentially life-threatening disease, it occurs when serotonin levels in the brain increase to a toxic level, often caused by too much medication or taking two serotonin-increasing medications that use different mechanisms to increase the neurotransmitter. Symptoms include: Restlessness, Excitement, Anxiety, and Panic.

The connection between SSRIs and violence

• Even in patients who have no previous history of violence or aggression before taking the medication, there is a risk of increased violence.
• This risk of violent behavior has led to the FDA mandating a black box warning on all SSRI medications.

SSRIs can increase the risk of suicide

• In one study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, patients suffering from depression, but free of serious suicidal ideation, were given fluoxetine. Within two to seven weeks of starting the medication, six patients developed an intense, preoccupation with violent suicide.
• All six had never experienced such a severe level of depression.

SSRIs can increase the risk of violence against others

• According to a review of the FDA's database, 484 drugs were identified as triggers to serious adverse events significant enough to warrant a case study during the five-year period from 2004 through 2009
• Of these 484 medications, 31 were identified to have a “disproportionate” association with violence
• 31 drugs make up 78.8% of all cases of violence toward others in the FDA’s database and include multiple psychotropic medications
• The drugs that were most consistently and strongly associated with violence were the smoking cessation medication, varenicline (Chantix), and SSRIIs
• During the clinical trials for paroxetine, hostility, which was the term to include homicidal idealization and aggression, presented in 60 of the 9,219 participants (.65%)
• Children with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) taking the medication were the most at risk for becoming hostile

Connection between SSRI and Murder

• The vast majority of people who suffer from mental illness are nonviolent
• Since the increase in SSRI antidepressants being widely prescribed, the rise in mass shootings has increased right along with it
• Many mass shooters were either taking or had recently taken SSRIs
• 1989
• Joseph Wesbecker walked into his former employer Standard Gravure Corp and shot 20 workers, killing nine
• 1995
• Jarred Viktor was 15 when he was prescribed Paxil
• Kurt Danysh murdered his father just 17 days after being prescribed Prozac by his family doctor
• 1997
• Luke Woodham stabbed his mother, then traveled to Pearl High School, where he was enrolled, using a.30-30 to shoot two students and wound six others
• 1998 - 15-year-old Kip Kinkel shot both of his parents, then carried a 9mm handgun,.22 rifle, and a.22 pistol to his Thurston High School where he murdered two classmates and injured 22 more, all while taking Prozac
• 1999
• Eric Harris, 17, with Dylan Klebold, killed 12 students, one teacher, himself, and wounded 23 others during the Columbine school shooting; he had been prescribed Zoloft and then Luvox before he used a 12 gauge shotgun

The push for stronger mental health legislation

• In general, people with mental illness are rarely violent to other people
• Red flag laws are the newest gun legislation making their way through Congress
• Allows a family member or law officer to petition a temporary seize on someone's firearms if they're deemed a threat
• There's also a push for universal background checks on all gun sales

Gun control, mental health, and SSRIs: what's the solution?

• Gun control is obviously not the solution as the rate of mass shootings has increased over the last 30 years, despite multiple gun control laws being implemented.
• Taking firearms away from law abiding citizens has not and will not stop the problem.

Personal Responsibility

• Doctors need to educate patients and make them aware of the risks, as well as take the time to explain warning signs to loved ones
• A healthy diet, physical activity, and time spent in nature are ways to boost the mood that can help relieve the symptoms of mild depression

The FDA-big pharma connection

• Big pharmaceutical companies need to be held accountable for not sharing what they know about the medications they create
• Of the 74 FDA-registered trials looked at, 38 had positive outcomes, 36 had negative outcomes
• Thirty-seven of the positive outcome trials were published, but of the 36 negative outcomes trials, 22 were not published and 11 were written in a way that initially presented the data to convey a misleading positive outcome

Political Influence of Big Pharma

• Drug companies lure FDA employees to sit on their regulatory boards
• They hire their spouses
• Big pharma spends billions of dollars on political lobbying and campaign contributions
• Direct payments support the FDA budget
• FDA conceals risks and looks the other way when necessary

The FDA approval process

• Natural supplements cannot be patented, and therefore don’t go through the approval process.
• This means that supplements, which are often highly effective with little to no side effects, cannot claim to “treat” a condition, even when there’s research that supports that claim. 

https://www.psychreg.org/antidepressants-ssri-mass-shootings/