10 COMMENTS

  1. Kirstie Alley’s comments are getting ridiculed simply because she’s a Scientologist. As readers of this site would know, there is some evidence of a connection between a rare genetic disorder and violence with some psychiatric medications. Yolande Lucire is a forensic psychiatrist who has researched and written on the topic. Here is the title of one of her journal articles on the subject: “Antidepressant-induced akathisia-related homicides associated with diminishing mutations in metabolizing genes of the CYP450 family.” There is also a YouTube video of a lecture she gave: “Adverse Reactions to Psychiatric Drugs: Yolande Lucire MBBS.” Google either of these to read or watch them.

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  2. Hi,
    At the moment I am attempting to have historical Akathisia (two suicide attempts in Ireland) recorded on my records in the UK but I am being blocked.

    My GP Practice Newton Medical, Central London certainly has Modecate (Fluphenazine Deconoate) recorded as an allergy but is blocking the details.

    https://www.madinamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Suicide-Associated-with-Akathisia-and-Depot-Fluphenzaine-Treatment-KShear-1983.pdf

    I would presume my GP Practice to be following orders.

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  3. There is no doubt in my mind that meds can cause people to commit crimes who might not have done so otherwise. But I don’t think this is the case with this shooter due to the very elaborate planning and the fact that he didn’t seem to be a very nice guy. If the meds had any effect, perhaps they pushed him to do what he had always planned on doing with his mass shootings.

    I also think we have to very careful about blaming every mass shooting on meds as by doing that, we’re no better than the mental health professionals who think psych meds are harmless.

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    • I also think we have to very careful about blaming every mass shooting on meds

      Who is doing that, though? It’s not unreasonable to suspect the involvement of psychiatric drugs in crimes like these when one mass murderer after the next has been shown to have either been on the drugs or possibly in withdrawal from them when they committed their crimes.

      Your first paragraph is pure speculation and it makes me wonder why you are invested in minimizing the possible impact of the drugs in this case.

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      • Wow Uprising, as one who feels being on psych meds destroyed my life, I feel your remarks are extremely unfair. If my comment is pure speculation, why is this headline on this blog and other FB lists that are critical of psychiatry?

        People such as the LV shooter can be evil and capable of committing atrocities without being on psych meds. He definitely did not sound like a nice guy. So maybe I feel blaming psych meds is letting an evil person off the hook, especially one who went to the lengths he did to kill all those people.

        If we start automatically blaming psych meds on every mass shooting without carefully analyzing whether that is accurate or not, then I fear the folks who have a legitimate case about meds affecting their actions, will not be listened to. Not everyone can afford to have Peter Breggin testify for them, right?

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        • If my comment is pure speculation, why is this headline on this blog and other FB lists that are critical of psychiatry?

          Firstly, the headline states a fact: The shooter was reportedly taking “anti-anxiety” drugs. It doesn’t say that the drugs were the deciding factor in what he did. Secondly, I meant that you were speculating about the significance that his drug use had in terms of his actions. Of course it is speculation on your part, because you cannot possibly know the extent to which he may have been affected by the drugs.

          No one blamed the crime on the drugs, but it would be foolish to assume the drugs had no effect at all on this person. Benzodiazepines cause impairment just like alcohol does. We can say that the killer was evil, but that explains nothing. It’s not letting him off the hook to acknowledge that he may have been affected by his drug use to some extent. Perhaps he would have done the same thing stone sober, but if he was taking drugs we can only speculate.

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    • I don’t think this is the case with this shooter due to the very elaborate planning

      The elaborate planning is more indicative of SSRI-triggered mass homicides such as Aurora and Columbine, rather than the effects of benzos — but don’t forget the possibility of benzo withdrawal. Consider this from Peter Breggin:

      Alert 18 : Las Vegas Shooter on Valium!

      Stephen Paddock, the worst mass murderer in US history, was prescribed benzodiazepines in the form of fifty 10-milligram diazepam (Valium) tablets on June 21, according to records from the Nevada Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP). I have also received an unconfirmed report that he was prescribed antidepressants, which are commonly given along with benzos. Unlike Valium, antidepressant prescriptions are not reported by physicians to the PMP, which monitors scheduled narcotic-like or addictive drugs. For decades, it has been known that benzodiazepines like Valium, Xanax and Klonopin can cause impulsivity, disinhibition, or loss of self-control resulting in violence. See my book, Medication Madness: the Role of Psychiatric Drugs in Cases of Violence, Suicide and Crime. Check these Frequent Alerts for the breaking news on this story.

      Peter R. Breggin, MD

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  4. I’ve read through the comments here. What comes to my mind is that my dad committed suicide about a week after being prescribed Restoril (temazepam), a benzodiazepine. He was having trouble sleeping. He worked nights, had recently lost his position at work, and likely was affected by economic concerns (happened in 1981, during a major recession). Also some stressors from strained relations with my mother at the time.

    And so, he was prescribed Restoril. He had no documented history of depression or mental health issues, and no prior history of suicidal ideation or attempts. He was an avid hunter, and had guns for years, hanging on a gun rack high on the wall in his bedroom.

    Yet is was about a week after he was prescribed Restoril that he decided to come home from work, without saying a word, walk past my mom, grab one of his shotguns, go out into the backyard, and shoot himself under the chin.

    That wasn’t the same situation as a mass shooting, but as I understand it, some side effects, or withdrawal effects (perhaps he decided to stop taking it?) of drugs such as this are lack of impulse control, lack of inhibitions, and suicidal thoughts.

    (This isn’t the first time I wondered about it. I first mentioned it to Monica several years ago.)

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