Billions fund psychiatric drugs and brain interventions for veterans—yet suicides, overdoses, and violence rise. Experts call for safer, non-drug approaches that honor veterans’ service instead of betraying their trust.
By Jan Eastgate
President CCHR International
October 9, 2025
Key Facts:
- Billions Spent, Lives Lost: The VA’s mental health budget exploded from $3 billion in 2003 to nearly $19 billion anticipated for 2026, yet veteran suicides have risen 45%, with more than 6,400 deaths each year—far exceeding combat fatalities.
- Drugging Instead of Healing: In 2023 alone, 2.3 million veterans were prescribed psychotropic drugs—66% on antidepressants, 43% on mood stabilizers, and 13% on antipsychotics—many of which carry FDA suicide and violence warnings.
- Brain Damage and Reckless Interventions: Between 2018 and 2023, the VA spent $170 million on electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and other brain procedures that experts call “medically reckless” and destructive to healthy brain cells.
- Tragic Outcomes Ignored: Numerous veterans—such as Mark Miller, Andrew White, and Anthony Mena—died following psychiatric drug treatment, while others under VA care committed mass shootings after being prescribed drug cocktails.
- Experts Demand Accountability: Military psychologists and medical professionals warn that psychiatric drugging, electroshock, and experimental programs are fueling despair, overdoses, and violence—calling instead for non-drug, rights-based, and restorative care for veterans.
The recent tragedies involving veterans accused of mass shootings are sparking debate over the adequacy of Veterans Affairs (VA) mental health care. Yet the deeper problem is not a lack of care but the wrong kind of care—one that relies on psychiatric drugs and brain interventions that have failed veterans for decades. Billions in taxpayer funds have been funneled into programs that drug and disable those who served. Instead of healing, these treatments are pushing veterans into despair, addiction, and premature death.
A Tragic Pattern
The suicide of Mark Miller, a 53-year-old Marine veteran, exemplifies the betrayal. Only days before his death in April 2025, Miller was prescribed the antipsychotic Seroquel (quetiapine)—nicknamed “Serokill” among service members. He texted his father that his psychiatrist “did not even listen to my story—just like a robot that hands out poison.”[1]
Miller’s death is one among more than 6,400 veteran suicides each year. Despite billions poured into VA mental health programs, the suicide rate among veterans rose 45% between 2003 and 2022.[2]
Billions Spent, Outcomes Worsen
The VA’s mental health budget ballooned from $3 billion in 2003[3] to $17 billion in 2025, with nearly $19 billion requested for 2026. Yet the outcomes are grim: record staff hiring (61,490 new staff in 2023), new mental health initiatives, and suicide-prevention campaigns have not reduced suicides or overdoses.[4] Instead, 2.3 million veterans were prescribed psychotropic drugs in 2023, costing the VA $2.5 billion in just five years[5]:
- 66% were prescribed antidepressants
- 43% took mood stabilizers
- 30% were given anti-anxiety drugs or sedatives
- 13% took antipsychotics
- 7% were on stimulants[6]
Experts note these drugs carry warnings of suicide, violence, and sudden death. Rather than helping, they often compound trauma and impair judgment.
Mass Shootings Raise the Wrong Questions
In the wake of shootings involving veterans such as Nigel Max Edge in North Carolina and Thomas Jacob Sanford in Michigan, officials ask whether the VA is underfunded. But the issue is not underfunding—it is the failed treatments themselves.
Edge, wounded in Iraq, was reportedly left with a bullet lodged in his brain and was later diagnosed with PTSD, “schizophrenia,” and “cognitive disorders.” Sanford, also an Iraq veteran, battled addiction, including methamphetamine abuse, according to The New York Times[7]—a drug that is also legally prescribed as Desoxyn for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Whether prescribed or illicit, methamphetamine is linked to aggression, paranoia, hallucinations, delusional thoughts, psychosis, and violence.[8]
CCHR is calling for comprehensive toxicology testing of all mass acts of violence and full disclosure of any treatment histories. Without transparency, the public cannot evaluate how psychiatric interventions may have contributed to these tragedies. Recently, Florida introduced SB 54, which would require medical examiners to conduct screenings to test for psychotropic drugs on suspects of a mass shooting or other violent crime.[9]
Warnings Ignored
The reliance on psychiatric drugs is not new. In 2012, Assistant Secretary of Defense Jonathan Woodson warned against over-prescribing antipsychotics like Seroquel for PTSD, noting the risks of misuse. The New York Times reported at the time that the use of such drugs had grown sharply over the past
decade and soldiers’ PTSD symptoms “do not respond to antidepressants” approved to treat it.[10]
Yet the warnings were disregarded. Former military psychologist Dr. Bart Billings, author of Invisible Scars: How to Treat Combat Stress and PTSD Without Medication, has long argued that drugging and electroshocking veterans is harmful: “Mental health cannot be achieved when one is given mind-altering drugs that interfere with cognitive functioning.”[11] Billings recalls medics handing out Seroquel pills to entire units on flights home from Iraq “like playing Russian roulette.” He explained: “People respond differently, and you never know how it’s going to affect somebody.”[12]
Electroshock and Brain Interventions
Psychotropic drugs are not the only failed approach. Between 2018 and 2023, the VA paid out $170 million for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and other brain interventions on veterans.[13]
ECT carries serious risks, including memory loss and brain damage. Administering such procedures to already brain-injured veterans is not only medically reckless but profoundly disrespectful to their service. Dr. Billings is even more adamant: “I feel any treatment that destroys healthy brain cells, which ECT does, should be seen as criminal abuse.”[14]
Families Devastated
The devastation is personal for families like Shirley White, whose son Andrew, a 23-year-old Marine, returned from Iraq in 2007 with insomnia and restlessness. Prescribed a cocktail of drugs, including Seroquel and the antidepressant Paxil (paroxetine), his decline was rapid. He was found dead less than a year later, with multiple psychotropic drugs in his system, including a massive dose of Seroquel far above recommended levels.[15]
Similarly, Airman Anthony Mena died suddenly in 2009 after being prescribed 35 different psychotropic drugs and painkillers within 18 months. His mother, Pat Mena, recalls: “Tony didn’t die from PTSD; he died from the cocktail of drugs they gave him. None of the drugs helped my son.”[16]
Lance Corporal Johnny Lutz (U.S. Marine Corps)served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Shortly after VA psychiatrists prescribed psychiatric drugs, he took his own life. His family directly blamed the drugs.[17]
Shootings Linked to Veterans on Psychiatric Drugs
High-profile shootings by veterans and service members reveal a consistent pattern: psychiatric drugs and cocktails prescribed by the VA or military doctors often preceded violence. Rather than preventing tragedy, the treatments may have fueled it.
- 2006: Marine Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes (Fallujah, Iraq) –stabbed to death an Iraqi soldier with whom he was on sentry; he had been prescribed Trazodone (antidepressant), Ambien, and Valium (anti-anxiety drugs), and was convicted of negligent homicide.[18] Holmes had been hospitalized after threatening suicide in high school.[19]
- 2010: David Lawrence (Afghanistan) –was taking the two antidepressants – Trazodone and Zoloft – when he killed a top Taliban commander by shooting him in the face in a prison cell.[20]
- 2013: Eddie Ray Routh (Texas) – Iraq veteran prescribed multiple psychiatric drugs, including the antipsychotics risperidone, Haldol, and Seroquel, as well as the antidepressants Zoloft and Paxil. His father said the cocktail “made Eddie worse.” Routh fatally shot Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield—the tragedy later depicted in American Sniper.[21]
- 2013: Aaron Alexis (Washington Navy Yard, D.C.) – Navy contractor prescribed the antidepressant Trazodone. Shot and killed 12 people and injured 8.[22]
- 2014: Ivan Lopez (Ft. Hood, Texas) – Army specialist prescribed Ambien and antidepressants. Opened fire on the base, killing 3 and injuring 16, before taking his own life.[23]
- 2014: Bradley Stone (Pennsylvania) – Iraq war veteran under VA psychiatric care. Toxicology revealed Trazodone (antidepressant) and risperidone (antipsychotic). He killed 6 family members before committing suicide.[24] One week prior to the murders, he saw a VA psychiatrist, who determined Stone had no suicidal or homicidal ideation.[25]
- 2016: Gavin Long (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) – Former Marine with PTSD diagnosis. Prescribed anti-anxiety drugs, including Ativan, Valium, and Lunesta. Ambushed police officers, killing 3 and wounding 3, before being killed in a shootout.[26]
- 2017: Devin Kelley (Sutherland Springs, Texas) – Former Air Force member with a long psychiatric drug history, including treatment at for-profit psychiatric hospital Peak Behavioral Health, owned by Universal Health Services. He opened fire in a church, killing 26 and wounding 20.[27]
- 2017: Esteban Santiago (Ft. Lauderdale Airport, Florida) – Veteran and former National Guard member referred by the FBI for psychiatric evaluation that lasted four days after he claimed the CIA was following him. Prescribed anti-anxiety drugs. Opened fire in baggage claim, killing 5 and wounding 6.[28]
Suicide Rates Surpass Combat Deaths
The 2021 “Costs of War” project from Brown University found that 30,177 active-duty service members and post-9/11 veterans had died by suicide—more than four times the number killed in post-9/11 war operations. The report noted that suicide rates among active-duty personnel during the Global War on Terror surpassed any service member suicide rates since before World War II.[29]
This is not a “mental illness epidemic” but a man-made crisis fueled by psychiatric interventions.
Experts Demand Change
Retired Air Force Colonel John A. Henke, a clinical psychologist, observed:
“Instead of helping veterans recover from war, their pain has been masked with potent drugs. These drugs are feeding addictions and contributing to overdose deaths nearly double the national average among VA patients.”[30]
The late Joyce Riley, a registered nurse and former Air Force Captain, called it “experimentation and abuse,” urging that veterans be treated “as human beings, no experimentation, and no abuse. They deserve the respect they have earned.”[31]
Professor Malcolm Hooper, Chief Scientific Adviser to the British Gulf Veterans Association, added: “Every physical symptom… should be investigated for physical origins before you go into psychiatry. And, because if you don’t do that, almost certainly, someone who has a real physical symptom is being labeled as having a psychiatric symptom, which is false.”[32]
A Call to Honor Veterans with Real Solutions
CCHR stresses that safer, effective alternatives exist—non-drug, non-coercive approaches that address physical injuries and trauma recovery without further disabling veterans.
Yet the VA continues pouring billions into the same failed psychiatric paradigm, even now experimenting with psychedelics under the guise of “innovation.”
Veterans deserve more than drug cocktails, electroshock, and false diagnoses. They deserve care that restores dignity, functionality, and hope.
To address concerns about the dangerous mental health treatment of our military and veterans, CCHR produced its acclaimed documentary, Hidden Enemy: Inside Psychiatry’s Covert Agenda. It features interviews with more than 80 soldiers, veterans, and experts, tackles psychotropic prescriptions, soaring military suicide rates, and the sudden death of veterans in their sleep.
[1] https://www.cchrint.org/issues/psychotropic-drugs-failing-service-members-veterans/ citing “S.A. Veteran’s Death spurs lawmaker’s push,” San Antonio Express-News, 12 Apr. 2025, https://www.pressreader.com/usa/san-antonio-express-news/20250412/281526526890060;
[2] https://www.cchrint.org/2016/11/02/senate-bill-addresses-psych-drugs-veteran-suicides/
[3] John Ramsey, “The Last Battle: Steven Chadduck lost his home and nearly committed suicide while waiting for help for PTSD,” Fayottesville Observer, 24 Sept. 2012
[4] https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/FY26%20MCVA%20Senate%20Bill%20Summary.pdf; https://department.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/fy-2025-va-budget-in-brief.pdf
[5] https://www.cchrint.org/issues/psychotropic-drugs-failing-service-members-veterans/; 2018-2023 Data Obtained by CCHR International through Freedom of Information Request from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, received Feb. 2024; https://www.cchrint.org/2021/09/13/cchrs-foia-request-to-veteran-health-administration-reveals-4-2-million-vets-prescribed-dangerous-drugs-costing-2-4-billion/
[6] https://www.cchrint.org/2024/11/08/veterans-day-cchr-calls-for-safeguards/
[7] “Michigan Church Attacker Is Said to Have Held a Grudge Against Mormons,” The New York Times, 29 Sept. 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/us/michigan-church-attack.html
[8] https://www.northstarbehavioralhealthmn.com/resources/what-is-meth-induced-psychosis; “Desoxyn—The Legal Methamphetamine You Probably Haven’t Heard Of,” Ashwood Recovery, https://www.ashwoodrecovery.com/blog/desoxyn-legal-methamphetamine-probably-havent-heard/; https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/methamphetamine-abuse-violence-and-appropriate-treatment
[9] Florida Senate Bill 54 (Introduced), https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/54/BillText/Filed/PDF
[10] Barbara Hollingsworth, “Army Psychologist: ‘Direct Correlation’ Between Military Suicides, Psychiatric Meds,” CNS News, 4 Sept. 2014, https://www.cchrint.org/2014/09/04/army-psychologist-direct-correlation-between-military-suicides-psychiatric-drugs/
[11] https://www.cchrint.org/2014/02/06/cchrs-45th-anniversary-human-rights-banquet-honoring-warriors-against-mental-health-abuse/; “Watchdog Says Psychotropic Drug Link to Military and Veteran Suicides Warrants Federal Probe,” Citizens Commission on Human Rights International, 25 July 2017, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/watchdog-says-psychotropic-drug-link-to-military-and-veteran-suicides-warrants-federal-probe-300493676.html
[12] Barbara Hollingsworth, “Army Psychologist: ‘Direct Correlation’ Between Military Suicides, Psychiatric Meds,” CNS News, 4 Sept. 2014, https://www.cchrint.org/2014/09/04/army-psychologist-direct-correlation-between-military-suicides-psychiatric-drugs/
[13] 2018-2023 Data Obtained by CCHR International through Freedom of Information Request from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, received Feb. 2024
[14] “Psychologists Support Ban of Electroshock Treatment on Military and Veterans Opposing American Psychiatric Association’s Push to Broaden Controversial Shock Use,” Citizens Commission on Human Rights International, 23 May 2017, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/psychologists-support-ban-of-electroshock-treatment-on-military-and-veterans-300462418.html
[15] https://www.cchrint.org/2012/10/30/military-mental-health-treatment-becomes-frankenpharmacy/
[16] https://www.cchrint.org/2012/10/30/military-mental-health-treatment-becomes-frankenpharmacy/
[17] https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/exclusive-mother-of-veteran-blames-hospital-for-his-death/
[18] “Marine is Found Guilty in Stabbing Death of Iraqi Soldier,” Los Angeles Times, 14 Dec. 2007, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-dec-14-me-iraqi14-story.html; Rick Rogers, “He’s Charged with Killing Iraqi Soldier,” The San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Nov. 2007
[19] https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article24491074.html
[20] https://www.reuters.com/article/world/us/us-army-private-admits-murdering-taliban-detainee-idUSTRE74O8GC/; https://www.latimes.com/health/la-xpm-2012-apr-07-la-na-army-medication-20120408-story.html
[21] https://www.cchrint.org/2022/07/11/billions-spent-on-violence-prevention-ignores-how-psychotropic-drugs-cause-hostility/; Rick Jervis, “‘American Sniper’ killer found guilty in murders,” USA Today, 24 Feb. 2015, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/02/24/american-sniper-murder-trial-verdict/23896859; Nicholas Schmidle, “In the Crosshairs,” The New Yorker, 3 Jun. 2013, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/06/03/in-the-crosshairs; Mike Spies, “Inside the Tortured Mind of Eddie Ray Routh, the Man Who Killed American Sniper Chris Kyle,” Newsweek, 23 Nov. 2015, https://www.newsweek.com/2016/01/08/inside-tortured-mind-man-who-killed-american-sniper-chris-kyle-397299.html; Manny Fernandez and Kathryn Jones, “An American Sniper, His Killer, and Deep Scars Bared for a Jury,” The New York Times, 19 Feb. 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/20/us/american-sniper-jury-hears-of-struggles-of-chris-kyle-and-eddie-ray-routh.html
[22] https://www.cchrint.org/2016/11/02/senate-bill-addresses-psych-drugs-veteran-suicides/; Trip Gabriel, Joseph Goldstein, and Michael S. Schmidt, “Suspect’s Past Fell Just Short of Raising Alarm,” The New York Times, 17 Sep 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/us/washington-navy-yard-shootings.html; “12 Victims Killed, 8 Wounded in Shooting at D.C. Navy Yard, Suspected Gunman Killed,” NBC 4 Washington, 16 Sept. 2013, https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/confirmed-shooter-at-navy-yard-one-person-shot/1953634/
[23] https://www.cchrint.org/2016/11/02/senate-bill-addresses-psych-drugs-veteran-suicides/; David Montgomery, Manny Fernandez and Timothy Williams, “Fort Hood Gunman Was Being Treated for Depression,” Gabriel, Joseph Goldstein, and Michael S. Schmidt, “Suspect’s Past Fell Just Short of Raising Alarm,” The New York Times, 3 Apr 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/04/us/fort-hood-shooting.html; Ben Brumfield, Tom Watkins and Josh Rubin, “Fort Hood shooting spree: ‘Texans’ heart are once again very heavy,’” CNN, 3 Apr 2014, http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/03/us/fort-hood-shooting
[24] https://www.cchrint.org/2016/11/02/senate-bill-addresses-psych-drugs-veteran-suicides/; Jacqueline Klimas, “Bradley Stone cleared by Veterans Affairs doctor one week before murders, suicide,” The Washington Times, 17 Dec 2014, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/17/bradley-stone-cleared-veterans-affairs-doctor-one-/; Dan Stamm and Vince Lattanzio, “Montgomery County Spree Killer Bradley Stone Dies of Drug Overdose: ME,” NBC Philadelphia, 24 Dec 2014, http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Bradley-Stone-Death-Overdose-Report-286716351.html
[25] https://www.cchrint.org/2022/07/11/billions-spent-on-violence-prevention-ignores-how-psychotropic-drugs-cause-hostility/l Ralph Ellis, Susan Candiotti and Ashely Fantz, “Police in Pa. search for man suspected of killing ex-wife, 5 former in-laws,” CNN, 15 Dec 2014, https://www.cnn.com/2014/12/15/us/pennsylvania-shootings/; Jacqueline Klimas, “Bradley Stone cleared by Veterans Affairs doctor one week before murders, suicide,” Washington Times, 17 Dec 2014, https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/17/bradley-stone-cleared-veterans-affairs-doctor-one-/; Dan Stamm and Vince Lattanzio, “Montgomery County Spree Killer Bradley Stone Dies of Drug Overdose: ME,” NBC 10 Philadelphia, 24 Dec 2014, https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/national-international/bradley-stone-death-overdose-report/159969/
[26] https://www.cchrint.org/2017/01/11/are-psychiatric-drugs-behind-airport-shooter/; Steve Visser, “Baton Rouge shooting: 3 officers dead; shooter was Missouri man, sources say,” CNN, 18 Jul 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/17/us/batonroutepoliceshooting/; Joshua Berlinger and Jason Hanna, “Gavin Long said he suffered from PTSD, source tells CNN,” CNN, 20 Jul 2016, http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/20/health/gavinlongptsdbatonrouge/
[27] https://www.cchrint.org/2017/11/17/texas-church-shooter-universal-health-services/; Travis Fedschun and Greg Norman, “Texas church shooter Devin Patrick Kelley served in Air Force, was court-martialed for assaulting wife, child,” Fox News, 6 Nov. 2017, https://www.foxnews.com/us/texas-church-shooter-devin-patrick-kelley-served-in-air-force-was-court-martialed-for-assaulting-wife-child; Camila Domonoske, “Before His Military Trial, Texas Shooter Escaped Mental Health Facility,” NPR, 7 Nov. 2017, https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/11/07/562607996/before-his-military-trial-texas-shooter-escaped-mental-health-facility
[28] https://www.cchrint.org/2017/01/11/are-psychiatric-drugs-behind-airport-shooter/; “Fort Lauderdale airport shooting suspect’s brother says U.S. gov’t failed him,” CBS News, 7 Jan 2017, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fort-lauderdale-airport-shooting-suspect-brother-us-government-failed-him/; https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/suspected-lauderdale-airport-gunman-frequented-isil-dark-web/
[29] https://www.cchrint.org/2021/09/13/cchrs-foia-request-to-veteran-health-administration-reveals-4-2-million-vets-prescribed-dangerous-drugs-costing-2-4-billion/; Ken Silva, “America’s Veterans Are Killing Themselves at an Alarming Rate: Report,” The Epoch Times, 26 July 2021, https://www.theepochtimes.com/americas-veterans-are-killing-themselves-at-an-alarming-rate_3918982.html
[30] “The Role of Psychiatric Drugs in Military Suicides and Sudden Deaths,” Health Impact News, 18 May 2014, https://healthimpactnews.com/2014/the-role-of-psychiatric-drugs-in-military-suicides-and-sudden-deaths/
[31] https://www.cchrint.org/issues/the-hidden-enemy/veteransandmilitarydeservesupportnotdrugs/
[32] https://www.cchrint.org/issues/the-hidden-enemy/veteransandmilitarydeservesupportnotdrugs/
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