Violence Caused by Antidepressants Ignored Once Again by Psychiatrists

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In 2015, six psychiatrists from the Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, the UK, published the study, “Depression and Violence: A Swedish Population Study” in Lancet Psychiatry.

It was a total population study that included 47,158 people with a depression diagnosis, matched by age and sex to 898,454 general population controls.

The authors found that “After adjustment for sociodemographic confounders, the odds ratio of violent crime was 3.0 (95% CI 2.8–3.3) compared with the general population controls.”

They concluded that the risk of violent crime was increased in individuals with depression after adjustment for familial, sociodemographic and individual factors and that clinical guidelines should consider recommending violence risk assessment in certain subgroups with depression.

They also concluded that the association between a diagnosis of depression and violent crime was independent of potential confounders. This conclusion is invalid because they did not consider the most important confounder in their analyses, usage of depression drugs. It is taboo in mainstream psychiatry to even consider that psychiatric drugs may cause violence towards self and others.

When we reviewed the clinical study reports of placebo-controlled trials, we found that the risk of aggression was doubled on antidepressants (odds ratio 1.93, 95% confidence interval 1.26 to 2.95). The patient narratives listed homicidal threat, homicidal ideation, assault, sexual molestation, a threat to take a gun to school, damage to property, punching household items, aggressive assault, verbally abusive and aggressive threats, and belligerence.

Suicidal events are often omitted or miscoded in these trials. When psychiatrist David Healy and I reviewed the two trials that led to the approval of fluoxetine in children in the USA, we found that suicidal events were missing not only in the publications but also in the internal study reports submitted to the FDA. Precursors to suicidality or violence occurred more often on fluoxetine than on placebo.

My research group also did a meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials in healthy adult volunteers using precursor events defined by the FDA. We found that SSRIs and SNRIs double the risk of harms related to suicidality and violence, and the number needed to treat to harm one healthy person was only 16 (95% confidence interval 8 to 100).

In our research, there was no issue with confounding, as we based it on randomised trials where only one group received antidepressants. It is therefore crystal clear that antidepressants increase the risk of violence, but the authors did not cite a 2010 analysis of 1,937 cases of violence submitted to the FDA, 387 of which were homicide. It showed that violence was particularly often reported for depression pills, sedatives/hypnotics, ADHD drugs, and a smoking cessation drug that also affects brain function.

So, what did the six psychiatrists say about confounding? They wrote:

“An important potential implication of our findings relates to interpretation of safety data for antidepressant medication. Anecdotally, antidepressants have been associated with self-harm and severe violence, which drew great attention in the public and media a decade ago.44 The reduction of antidepressant prescription to young people that followed failed to reduce rates of self-harm, with recent evidence suggesting that, in the USA, rates of self-harm actually increased.45 Although our study does not bear directly on the association between antidepressants and violence, it suggests that a diagnosis of depression will confound interpretation of the effects of treatment for depression on violence (and self-harm). Therefore pharmacovigilance data for antidepressants needs to be interpreted with great caution.”

The authors speak of “anecdotal evidence.” This is seriously dishonest. The FDA reported already in 2006 that depression pills double the risk of suicide, suicide attempts, or preparation for suicide in people under 25 years of age based on the placebo-controlled trials and issued a Black Box Warning.

The study the authors refer to when they claim that a drop in usage of antidepressants led to an increase in self-harm is totally unreliable. It made no sense that suicide attempts in young people increased after the FDA warned that depression drugs can increase suicidal behaviour. I noted that the authors used complicated statistics with quadratic terms to make their point, and that we should look at the graphs instead, which were revealing. Poisonings and suicides rose markedly in adolescents when usage of the pills started to increase again.

The authors wrote that psychological interventions could “potentially” be of benefit in people at high risk of suicide. This is not only a potential benefit. It is real. Randomised trials have shown that psychotherapy for patients who have attempted suicide halves the risk of another suicide attempt.

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Mad in America hosts blogs by a diverse group of writers. These posts are designed to serve as a public forum for a discussion—broadly speaking—of psychiatry and its treatments. The opinions expressed are the writers’ own.

27 COMMENTS

  1. https://www.uspharmacist.com/article/behavioral-side-effects-of-antiepileptic-drugs

    ABSTRACT: Most antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) cause some degree of adverse drug reactions. Behavioral side effects (BSEs) associated with AEDs are often overlooked, but are a significant consideration. Agitation, aggression, psychosis, behavioral disorders, hyperactivity, and restlessness are some AED-related BSEs. Contributing causes may include pharmacologic activity, forced normalization, patient characteristics, individual susceptibility, and medication parameters such as dosage and drug interactions. The pharmacist must educate the patient and caregivers about possible BSEs in order to minimize the impact of behavioral changes and improve quality of life.

    “Mood Stabilizers” anyone?

    Was anyone aware of this?
    I wasn’t.
    They blamed my behavior on me.

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  2. There are 2. One in heaven, one here on Earth….
    2 what?
    Saint Peter.
    Peter Sagan is a KING, not a saint, so….

    I won’t rehash my 50+ year history since I was first drugged by the quack psychs & their neurotoxins, or my now nearly 30-year RECOVERY shrink-proof & psych drug FREE….
    But hey, just like the “black box” package insert warnings say, psych drugs DO CAUSE violent, suicidal, and homicidal behavior….
    But of course psychiatry ignores this inconvenient TRUTH….

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  3. It’s troubling that the potential link between antidepressants and violence continues to be ignored by many psychiatrists. While these drugs can be beneficial, the risks, including possible aggression, must be acknowledged. Patients deserve full transparency about the side effects of their treatments.

    coffee machine toy

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    • “It’s troubling that the potential link between antidepressants and violence continues to be ignored by many psychiatrists,” and others, like law enforcement.

      I was attending a church in a community which had a very high, high school suicide rate. And these suicides were violent suicides, like jumping in front of trains and lighting oneself on fire. There were something like 8 violent high school suicides during the time my children were in middle and high school. I later spoke with a police officer about the issue, and he pretended he knew nothing about the problem.

      I knew those violent suicides were a result of so many children being put on the psych drugs, from personal experience, and as a psychopharmacological researcher. The whole situation was heartbreaking, for the children, and for us legitimately concerned mothers.

      I agree, “Patients deserve full transparency about the side effects of their treatments,” instead of denial, which is the norm now. Thank you, as always, for speaking the truth, Dr. Gøtzsche.

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  4. What should be done post-mortem by forensic doctors, for example, to introduce a suspicion of a connection between the use, reduction, augmentation, switch or (cold turkey)discontinuation of antidepressants in the statistics of pharmacovigilance?
    And how do we ensure that these doctors report this?

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  6. This is beyond disturbing. They shouldn’t be prescribing these drugs out to millions of people. It’s reckless and dangerous. It’s astounding how they ignore all the harm they have caused to other people. Peoples lives have been ruined and yet they still prescribe these drugs to millions of people

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  7. I have spent almost 30 years on meds! I agave 12 underlying disorders! I have experienced tongue swells, seizures and stroke like symptoms! I currently take a med that causes heart attacks as a side effect, I figure that heart attacks are better than t.d. Or seizures! My problem is finding care! Mental hospitals are the only long term facilities for chronic health problems like mine! I’m currently homeless in Nashville, Tn! My older brother twitched from head to toe from his usage of these meds! He died in a car wreck and I think he’s in a better place. One thing that is bothering me is how I have to use the bathroom every 5 seconds! I watched 55 steps and think my kidneys are going! The amount I make in social security won’t pay for a home and I need care, if anyone has any advice please respond! Thanks

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  8. Thank you, Peter, for your continued efforts to expose the capitalist-driven dishonesty and negligence of psychiatry and pharmaceutical companies.

    Carole, Bill and nonBeliever, I am so sorry for your suffering. We are the forgotten victims of psychiatry, governments, and society.

    Whilst prescribed fluoxetine, I once attempted suicide with a firearm (the weapon did not fire), experienced passive suicidal ideation numerous times, committed aggravated assault, and self-harmed regularly (see https://www.littlecattrauma.com.au/miserable). Two years since withdrawing, and despite protracted withdrawal syndrome, I no longer exhibit violent or active suicidal behaviour. Coincidence? I think not. Eli Lilly has blood on their hands (https://www.drugwatch.com/ssri/prozac/lawsuits/#:~:text=Lilly%20Settles%2030%20Suits%20for, violent%2C%20aggressive%20and%20suicidal%20behavior)!

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    • Well, thank-you, anyway, “Cat”, but you needn’t be “sorry” for my “suffering”….
      Haven’t you noticed? In ANY news story about so-called “mental health”, and especially “mental illness”, the words “suffering” and “struggle” ALWAYS appear….
      This is by design, it’s a propaganda–brain washing–mind control tactic….
      My views on suffering are today informed by HH Dali Lama of Tibet, and basic Buddhist views on suffering. Several of his books have been more helpful to me, that ALL the psychs & psych drugs in world ever were, or could be….
      Yes, Eli Lilly, and all of PhRMA have “blood on their hands”. Google the “Zyprexa Papers”, for example. And they’ve paid literally $BILLIONS in fines for a variety of crimes including false advertising. They DO NOT CARE about you or me….
      Psychiatry is a fraudulent pseudoscience & drugs racket….

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  9. Slowly tapered down now to 1mg Zoloft from 100 mgs over the past year and still my family member one hour post this very small dose of medication (on the dot every single day) “freaks out” pacing,and agitated, pulse rapid, breathing rapid. Slowly this dies away but it must be terrifying to have this happen to you. How can this be a good thing? These drugs are an abomination they have done nothing other than destroy his system.

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  10. My dear brother passed away of a massive heart attack last summer. I believe the psychotropic meds could have contributed to his health along with being a heavy smoker. He was a consumer, and struggled with schizophrenia during his adult life. Our mother was a lifelong advocate of orthomolecular medicine and I
    believe we should all be. I have been a consumer of SSRIs for the past twenty years and feel they are minimal in their effectiveness. They certainly have toxic side effects and are used by psychiatrists as a panacea. That suicide has become so commonplace in the young without investigation into the phenomenon is tragic and incredibly irresponsible on the part of the medical industry.

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  11. I went to prison for two and half years after a psychiatrist resigned over the phone while I was in the emergency room, and he refused to refer me to anyone. Having no one to prescribe the massive doses of antidepressants I was on, I stopped taking them.

    I had a psychotic episode and committed an assault; I had never been violent in my life. If the court had not considered this, I would have been given 15 years.

    I was a very successful businessman, married with four kids. It is all gone now. My wife left me and took the kids, which was the right thing to do. Now, I have a traumatized wife and children, four businesses gone, employees out of work, investors lost money, a community deprived of my family’s generosity, and ten years of my life lost to Big Pharma and system that prioritizes profits over people.

    I found supportive doctors who helped me get off the medications. Since then, I have thrived for the first time in a long time.

    My mission is to find my family and change the system that reeked so much havoc in my life.

    Thank you, Mad In America, and everyone who supports its mission.

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    • I think you meant to say “wrought” instead of “reeked,” but actually the word “reek” is a most fitting metaphor for the stench of corruption pervasive in the mental health industry (i.e. its notorious self-serving relationship with Big Pharma, concealment of the severe harms caused by its noxious “toolkit” of chemical lobotomies, ECT, and other brain-disabling treatments, and the use of the pseudo-scientific DSM pastiche of concocted disorders as the authoritative basis for diagnosis and therapy).
      I’ve concluded that it’s futile to seek a meaningful dialogue with defenders of this unsavory racket, for like the true believers in any hermetic cult, they are impervious to all contrary arguments, no matter how sound, logical, and abundantly corroborated.

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  12. Akathisia needs to be renamed Pandora Syndrome, because that is what it feels like, sticking your head into Pandora’s Box. It is the sum of all fears. It is the fear system of the brain running out of control. It is the inverse of the numbing, both physically and emotionally. People are literally pacing and shaking in fear because the drugs damage the fight, flight, or freeze response. People get desperate and will do anything to escape that feeling. If WEST Germany wasn’t rejecting Prozac over akathisia then what were they rejecting it for? If the black box warning isn’t referring to akathisia then what is it referring to?

    The word akathisia has always been ‘Greek to me’ and it is time to start using terms people can understand.

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  14. I will probably get banned for writing this but now that this link has been acknowledged, I do think it has some connection with school violence. Let’s ignore some political figures and their views on it, but it does stand to reason that the modern child is over prescribed these meds and that violent incidents at school have been increasing.

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    • I’d say you’re on solid ground with your comments, Rachel….many so-called “anti-depressants” have had “black box’ warnings as long ago as the 1990’s….warning of the risk of “suicidal & homicidal thoughts & behaviors”, especially in teenage males….
      It’s beyond question. Sometimes, some drugs DO make some people violent….
      If you haven’t read them, “Mad In America”, and “Anatomy of an Epidemic”, both by Mr. Robert Whitaker, are an excellent place to start….

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  15. This is what it was like for me on the current class of antidepressants:

    There is darkness all around me
    I can see the light formed in a sliver high above me.
    It is hard to be aware of anything except suffering.
    My bones have all been shattered, all but my skull, leaving my brain intact.
    I am exquisitely aware of the agony of all my senses.
    I know I am dying.
    I am losing all desire to continue; death remains elusive.
    I know I am in an earthen pit; I do not know how deep.
    I have tried to scale the walls with my broken body.
    They crumble in my hands.
    I can feel the bones of my ancestors underneath me extending in time to hell.
    I cannot scream for help. My broken ribs have punctured my lungs.
    The dirt begins to fall from the beast shoveling above me.
    The pain is my reality.
    My higher functions are shutting down, leaving primitive fear that cannot be reasoned with.
    Please, please, please, please, please, shovel faster, bury me alive.
    The dirt rains down on me, torrential rain in slow motion.
    Faster, please.
    The reptile at the base of my brain, terrified, continues to fight for life despite my pleas to let me die.
    The following shovel lands on my face. My ruptured lungs struggle to breathe, drawing dirt into my mouth.
    I can taste and smell the decay.
    Please, God, let me die; please stop the horror.
    Silence.

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