SSRI Antidepressants and Violence

PsychRights^®
Law Project for
Psychiatric Rights

Derek Braslow October 17, 3006, letter to United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez.
Stefan Kruszewski October 25, 2005 letter to United States Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez.
Antidepressants and Violence: Problem: at the Interface of Medicine and La, by David Healy, Andrew Herxheimer, and David B. Menkes, PLOS, September 2006, Volume 3, Issue 9, 372.
Suicidality, violence and mania caused by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs): A review and analysis, by Peter R. Breggin. International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine 16 (2003/2004) 31–49. This paper shows that evidence from many sources confirms that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) commonly cause or exacerbate a wide range of abnormal mental and behavioral conditions. These adverse drug reactions include the following overlapping clinical phenomena: a stimulant profile that ranges from mild agitation to manic psychoses, agitated depression, obsessive preoccupations that are alien or uncharacteristic of the individual, and akathisia. Each of these reactions can worsen the individual’s mental condition and can result in suicidality, violence, and other forms of extreme abnormal behavior. Evidence for these reactions is found in clinical reports, controlled clinical trials, and epidemiological studies in children and adults. Recognition of these adverse drug reactions and withdrawal from the offending drugs can prevent misdiagnosis and the worsening of potentially severe iatrogenic disorders. These findings also have forensic application in criminal, malpractice, and product liability cases.