by Kelly Patricia O’Meara – December 18, 2012
Click image to read CCHR’s full report—Another School Shooting, Another Psychiatric Drug? Federal investigation long overdue
In the coming days, as a nation, we will respectfully bow our heads for those brief moments of silence in remembrance of the victims of Newtown, Ct. Then, with the same outrage expressed at the murderous act, the nation must rise up and demand a sweeping investigation behind all the possible causes, including the mental health system itself.
According to news reports, the Sandy Hook shooter, Adam Lanza, was a product of the mental health system and had been taking “medication” since the age of ten and reportedly seeing a psychiatrist from at least the age of 15. Lanza’s mother reportedly told friends that Lanza “was getting worse” and “she was having trouble reaching him.” The questions that need to be answered is when did Adam Lanza first receive mental health treatment, what diagnoses did he receive and what drugs had he been prescribed over his short life.
The larger question is how many times does this senseless scenario have to play out before lawmakers finally acknowledge that the supporting data already exist and, to date, has repeatedly and deliberately been ignored. Between 1998 and 2012, fourteen school shootings occurred, taking the lives of 58 and wounding 109. All fourteen of those shooters were taking or withdrawing from a psychiatric drug and seven of them had been under the “care” of a psychiatrist or psychologist.
In other mass shootings, such as James Holmes, the suspected perpetrator of the July 20, 2012 mass shooting at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado, it is known that Holmes was seeing psychiatrist Lynne Fenton, yet no mention has been made of what psychiatric drugs he had been prescribed.
The majority of these shooters had been prescribed psychiatric mind-altering drugs that had not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, for treatment of children under the age of 18. Yet, antidepressants are at the top of the list of drugs indicted in these shootings, including Prozac, Trazodone, Effexor, Celexa and Luvox, to name a few.
And, a recent study reviewing the FDA’s adverse drug event data reveals that “the data provide new evidence that acts of violence towards others are a genuine and serious adverse drug event that is associated with a relatively small group of drugs. Varenicline, which increases the availability of dopamine, and serotonin reuptake inhibitors were the most strongly and consistently implicated drugs.” In other words, antidepressants are the consistently implicated drugs.
There is no question that psychiatric drugs cause violence as 22 international drug regulatory warnings have been issued on psychiatric drugs citing effects such as mania, hostility, violence and even homicidal ideation. Dozens of high profile shootings/killings have been tied to psychiatric drug use, yet there has been no federal investigation into the link between psychiatric drugs and acts of senseless violence.
Each of these psychiatric drug “treatments” carry the FDA’s Black-box warning, the federal agency’s most serious warning, which reads in part: “Antidepressants increased the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior (suicidality) in short-term studies in children and adolescents with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and other psychiatric disorders.” Despite the FDA’s warning, these psychiatric drugs are prescribed to children between the ages of 12-17 at a rate of one in 25.
But the data gets much worse, and certainly it is information that is available to those who are in a position to effect the change that is way past necessary. For example, 11 percent of the U.S. population over the age of 12 is taking at least one antidepressant, nine out of ten children who visit a child psychiatrist leave with a prescription for a mind-altering drug and, even more outrageous, 1 in 70 preschoolers are taking a psychiatric drug. These are the same drugs name in the above study.
And these data only deal with the ever-increasing drugging of the nation’s children. It is a sad but true fact that while the U.S. comprises only five percent of the world’s population, it consumes two-thirds of the world’s use of psychiatric drugs. The reason behind these insane numbers can be directly linked to the increased diagnosing of mental illness.
Click image for CCHR’s Report on Psychiatric Drugs and School Shootings
The truth is, without the diagnosis these psychiatric drugs cannot be prescribed. Even the muckety-mucks of psychiatry understand the detrimental power of the mental illness diagnoses. Dr. Allen J. Frances, a former chairman of the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-IV-R Task Force revealed in a recent op-ed that “new diagnoses in psychiatry are more dangerous than new drugs because they influence whether or not millions of people are placed on drugs….”
Today, the numbers of American’s being diagnosed as mentally ill is skyrocketing. Each year $100 billion is spent on mental health in the U.S. and in 2006, alone, psychiatric disorders cost 200 percent more than general medical care. And, the pharmaceutical industry isn’t shy about cashing in on the diagnosing, racking up $150 billion dollars in sales of mind-altering psychiatric drugs in 2009 – half of all prescription sales in the U.S.
There is no shortage of data to support the connection between psychiatric drugs and violence. What is missing is a serious discussion about the effect the mental health industry is having on the national well-being. More than a decade ago, a few insightful lawmakers in New York understood the growing problem and introduced what can only be described as groundbreaking legislation.
New York Senate Bill 1784, introduced in 2001 by then Senator Owen H. Johnson, would require law enforcement agencies in New York to collect data on certain violent crimes and what, if any, psychiatric drugs the offender may have been on during the commission of the crime.
The bill’s authors had done their homework and based the need for the legislation on research “which has been published in peer reviewed publications such as the American Journal of Psychiatry, the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Journal of Forensic Science, has shown, among other things that: certain drugs can induce mania, some patients on psychotropic drugs have an increase in suicidal thoughts and/or violent behavior, self-injurious ideation or behavior is intensified, users of certain drugs can become aggressive or suffer hallucinations and/or suicidal thoughts and certain drugs can produce an acute psychotic reaction.”
Although this bill did not make it out of committee, no part of the information provided in it, or the call for swift action, has changed. If anything, these legislators were ahead of their time. But with more than a decade of increasing violent acts associated with psychiatric drugs, there is no better time to take action.
Short of a serious investigation into the ever-increasing diagnosing of mental illness and the connection between psychiatric drugs and violence, the nation will continue to relive the tragic events of Newtown…Aurora, Co, Columbine, Co, and dozens more over the past decade, and those who are in the position to effect change and fail to do so should hang their head in shame.
O’Meara was the first investigative journalist to expose the link between school shootings and psychiatric drugs in her 1999 cover story, Guns & Doses – CLICK IMAGE to read article
Kelly Patricia O’Meara is an award winning investigative reporter for the Washington Times, Insight Magazine, penning dozens of articles exposing the fraud of psychiatric diagnosis and the dangers of the psychiatric drugs – including her ground-breaking 1999 cover story, Guns & Doses, exposing the link between psychiatric drugs and acts of senseless violence. She is also the author of the highly acclaimed book, Psyched Out: How Psychiatry Sells Mental Illness and Pushes Pills that Kill. Prior to working as an investigative journalist, O’Meara spent sixteen years on Capitol Hill as a congressional staffer to four Members of Congress. She holds a B.S. in Political Science from the University of Maryland.
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Your comment hit the nail on the head: “murderous zombies” is exactly right. While we do need a ban on non-military and non-law enforcement professionals using assault weapons–no weapon is effective without a the hand operating it. Guns are not designed to hunt down a target and shoot at will without the benefit of a USER?ABUSER?
We need to promote wellness all around and stop glorifying violence!Like anything else that needs nurturing and maintaining, a fragile mind needs a wellness plan. Not drugs that destroy the bodies natural ability to heal itself.
Yes I do agree that this matter needs thoroughly investigation and justice been applied so that some order can be put on this scenario.
The gov’t (all of them) doesn’t want to look at the Big Pharma connection because they are being paid not to look. Its as simple as that. Easier to automatically lable all “guns” as the culprit. A gun cant do a damned thing without a hand to hold it and finger to pull the trigger. I never saw one walk to school, or load itself, and I have seen a lot of guns. It’s just terrible how this country has created a whole army of murderous ZOMBIES with these drugs.
A direction to look at, is why pediatricians and doctors prescribing these medications? A simple sad day for can happen to anybody, but when parents and guardians take kids to the doctor’s the first line of defense are these meds. Too time consuming or costly to see a child psychiatrist, which is required after first taking them. The pharma companies lobby these doctors on lavish weekend retreats for their business to push these meds or offer some kind of kickback.
Why are the members of congress and other organizations not addressing the well documented effects of psychiatric medications, the fact that every school shooting has been done by young teens or young adults. Why has this issue not been questioned publicly through media or questioning at presidential speeches. Im super perplexed at this, that everyone is focussing on gun control only — that is why this is still continuing. If someone is homicidal and violent they will find a way no matter what. We need to place ourselves in front of those cameras putting this issue in the hearts and minds of everyone.
I think we can all agree that the recent massacre in New Town is horrific. People please be careful having extreme thinking. Noone is talking about banning guns…but we do need reform. some things are not working. Also with regard to psychotropic meds….we need to look at this….banning them is not the answer. And some other considerations are “violent” video games that desensitize our children. I am a Mental Health Therapist and I often see young children “unsupervised” tell me they watch horror movies and play violent video games. Parents must get involved and be educated about the dangers of this. And we all must report anything suspicious and not worry about the reaction of the police, etc. Also…get counseling if you need it….it is not a moral failing.
People…please don’t be “black and white” about this. NOONE HAS EVER SAID TO BAN GUNS…but so many people hear this when we start to talk about stricter background checks, taking “assault” type guns off the market, etc.
The 2nd amendment framers could not even fathom the type of arsenals we now have at our disposal.
Please try to be more moderate in your solution!
Dear Moderate,
If psychiatric medications were the problem, the underlying problem, then why would it be right not to ban them? For years the big pharma companies have claimed that these drugs are not dangerous yet the FDA, who normally always backs big pharma, has come out with a Black Box warning about anti depressants for young people. So there must be something there that the FDA knows is an issue. However the media with very very few exceptions, has pushed the “guns are the problem” and “movies are the problem” agenda and seems unwilling to put any real light on the drug issue even though it seems the facts are that many of the school shooters were taking them, had been taking them, or were in therapy with a Psychiatrist.
I had no wonderment about if the killer was on psychiatric drugs. The scenario was predictable. It is obvious what is going on. Because of the news rhetoric about guns causing these tragedies the President and Congress can focus people on their fear of guns. But guns do not kill people – people do. And by ensuring no news comes out of the media about the real cause of the killings – the mind control drugs used by psychiatry and psychology which cause people to commit the acts, then an avenue for false dialogue about “gun control” replaces the real dialogue that must be done – psychiatrist control. The elimination of the drug companies’ financial hold on Congress will go a long way to the passage of legislation to control these murderous pseudodoctors and their weapons of mass destruction.
News reports of the shootings throw no light on the cause, they just reinforce a mystery of an unanswered “why?”. By pushing the blame onto inanimate objects (guns) they deflect attention from the REAL cause; the damaging effects of psychiatric ‘treatment’ The message is repeated in every news bulletin and in a state of grief people hypnotically repeat the message “ban the guns”, as if this is a solution. Without guns it will be some other weapon. The cause is any person who is a victim of psychiatric drugging. These drug effects are totally unpredictable from individual to individual; they play ‘russian roulette’ with the patient’s life and of those around him or her. Psychiatry and the drug companies must be brought to justice.
Our journey to this truth is noted on our website http://www.CrespiFamilyHope.org which details my husband’s Prozac induced psychotic episode which resulted in the killing of our daughters and David’s life in prison.
This article states the truth that needs to be understood and acted on. God help us all on this journey where we need to speak up to prevent this madness from happening again and again and again. Thank you to the truth tellers.
The evidence is there and available – what are the politicians and lawmakers scared of? Losing votes? Loaing their money from investments in the pharmaceutical industry? Losing their “friends” – those who prescribe these drugs?
They should be scared of us – the voters who are increasingly losing their children through acts of senseless violence brought on by harmful mind-altering medications.
As soon as I saw the news I also wondered if the killer was on psychiatric drugs. Banning guns will not solve the problem. They need to abolish psychiatry as it stands. These drugs are responsible for millions of deaths. They make people become violent. !!. My heart goes out to the poor parents of the children who were killed. It annoys me that on the news it said that mental health professionals were going to help the affected kids at the school. What, put them on drugs too, I thought. These psychotropic drugs should be banned altogether. They dont work!
Can CCHR please list the top “blockbuster” psychotropic drugs?
I have found a link for the top ten blockbuster drugs, but I would like to see more information about the top blockbuster psychotropic drugs, OR drugs which are not psychotropic but may cause psychiatric side effects.
An eyeopening book Pharmageddon by David Healy is a “must read” for all. A scathing indictment of what the pharmaceutical companies have done to this nation’s healthcare system, it describes just how we have lost real healthcare to health ‘management’. Rather than curing what ails us, we are now more likely to be prescribed drugs we must take for life.
Barry Marshall, of Perth, Australia discovered the reason for peptic ulcers was not spicy food or stress but rather a bacteria easily cured with antibacterial medication – check out his Wikipedia page. Of course Glaxo had NO INTEREST in CURING ulcers – but rather, managing them with their blockbuster drug Zantac. Without actually curing the ulcer, Glaxo could keep a patient on Zantac indefinitely as opposed to an antibiotic for only two weeks. And this is their intent, to keep us on their drugs indefinitely.
The bottom line is: It’s all about making as much money as possible – off every individual they can hook on their drugs.
Having been a victim of the mental health care ‘system’ I know what psychotropic drugs can do to a person’s physical health as well as their thought process.
This carnage has got to stop.
They will immediately try to put these children and parents on psychiatric drugs as usual.
When three of your family members are under the jurisdiction of the courts and are guilty as hell of over medicating and being sent from group home to group home, foster family to foster family. Drugs upon drugs administered and adverse reactions because they try to alienate them from family and they and the family is deeply saaddened, Their DSM bible of pseudo science doctor/pharmaceutical iatrogenics and violation of informed concent and CIVIL RIGHTS,
the use of OFF LABEL DRUGS…..etc.
It is refreshing to see this article. This is the area we Americans should be looking into as the source of the problem. It’s not the guns that need to be taken away, I concur, it’s the drugs.
I work in the legal field and I see the lawsuits behind the scenes that stem from suicides, violence and ruined lives, all relating to these types of drugs. They are powerful and mind altering. They are an insidious source of trouble and people need to get educated on what devastating effects they can have on children, teens and adults.
The mental health industry has betrayed us all! Yes, we need to demand an investigation alright!
Another great article from a Doctor who felt he had to speak out:
https://herbdocblog.com/
Excellent article with one exception. The references to dopamine and serotonin are a mistake. Nobody knows what psychiatric drugs do to the brain.
A half century ago, serotonin enhancement was put forward as a mechanism of action for antidepressants. After years of numerous tries, nobody was ever able to prove these drugs raise serotonin. We remain vastly ignorant about their true mechanisms.
Repeating their pseudo-scientific babble lends some small credence to their belief system.
The most important diagnosis missing from the DSM is Selective Memory Disorder. Sadly, an entire generation of psychiatrists is afflicted.
“The nation must rise up and demand a sweeping investigation behind all the possible causes, including the mental health system itself.”
https://www.cchrint.org/2012/12/18/connecticut-shooting-failed-mental-health-system/
Top Ten Legal Drugs Linked to Violence:
10. Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) – 7.9 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs
9. Venlafaxine (Effexor) – 8.3 times more likely than other drugs to be related to violent behavior.
8. Fluvoxamine (Luvox) – 8.4 times more likely than other medications to be linked with violence
7. Triazolam (Halcion) – 8.7 times more likely to be linked with violence than other drugs
6) Atomoxetine (Strattera) – 9 times more likely to be linked with violence
5) Mefoquine (Lariam) – 9.5 times more likely to be linked with violence than other drugs.
4) Amphetamines: (Various) – 9.6 times more likely to be linked to violence, compared to other drugs.
3) Paroxetine (Paxil) – 10.3 times more likely to be linked with violence compared to other drugs.
2) Fluoxetine (Prozac) – 10.9 times more likely to be linked with violence in comparison with other medications.
1) Varenicline (Chantix) – 18 times more likely to be linked with violence compared to other drugs
http://healthland.time.com/2011/01/07/top-ten-legal-drugs-linked-to-violence/
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/01/07/top-ten-legal-drugs-linked-to-violence/#ixzz2FHGtnXKB