The Link Between Psychiatric Drugs and Violence

The correlation between psychiatric drugs and acts of violence and homicide is well documented—both by international drug regulatory warnings and studies, as well as by many cases where high profile acts of violence/mass murder were committed by individuals under the influence of psychiatric drugs.

  • There have been 22 drug regulatory agency warnings from five countries and the European Union, on psychiatric drug-induced violence.  These include the following (note that some warnings cite more than one side effect, so the list below may not be equal to the total number of warnings):

10 warnings on hostility
7 warnings on mania
7 warnings on psychosis
6 warnings on aggression
4 warnings on violent behavior/violence
3 warnings on agitation
1 warning on homicidal ideation

Click here for full list of drug warnings >>

  • There have been 10 studies in four countries on psychiatric drug-induced violence.  These include the following (note that some studies cite more than one side effect, so the list below may not be equal to the total number of studies):

4 studies on aggression
3 studies on mania
2 studies on violence
2 studies on homicidal ideation/actions
2 studies on psychosis

Click here for full list of drug studies >>

  • Between 2004 and 2012, there have been 14,773 reports to the U.S. FDA’s MedWatch system on psychiatric drugs causing violent side effects including:

Website Graphs - Violence

8,219 cases of aggression
3,287 cases of mania
971 cases of homicidal ideation
694 cases of hostility
582 cases of physical assault
444 cases of homicide
233 cases of psychosis
226 cases of violence-related symptoms

Note:  The FDA estimates that less than 1% of all serious events are ever reported to it, so the actual number of side effects occurring are most certainly higher.