For Immediate Release 21/5/18

A New Report Documents Violence Inducing Side Effects of Psychiatric Drugs

While there can be many contributory factors leading to the devastating act of shooting 6 loved family members, as we saw with Margaret River grandfather Peter Miles — the link to antidepressants as the trigger to this violence has never been more real. Headlines proclaim increasing acts of random senseless violence.  Depression does not equate with murderous acts against loved ones. It is not an automatic side effect of feeling depressed. The common denominator of what causes the irrational snap in tragic acts such as this, is that the subject was taking psychiatric drugs, which do equate with known acts of violence in previously calm and peaceful people, severely altered by a chemical concoction into something unrecognisable.

CCHR recently released its compelling report about this common denominator found in many acts of mass violence and shootings, Psychiatric Drugs Create Violence & Suicide: School Shootings & Other Acts of Senseless Violence. The Report provides information on more than 30 studies which link psychiatric drugs to adverse effects, including hostility, mania, aggression, suicide and homicidal thoughts. It can be read on this link: https://www.cchrint.org/pdfs/violence-report.pdf

High profile cases in Australia include a 76-year-old NSW man who killed his beloved wife of 50 years. NSW Supreme Court Justice Barry O’Keefe said, “I am satisfied that but for the Zoloft [antidepressant] he had taken, he would not have strangled his wife.“¹

In 2004 Chief Justice Malcolm ruled that antidepressants affected a Western Australian woman’s mental state and “substantially contributed to her twice trying to kill her two young daughters by gassing them in a car.” She was prescribed the antidepressants Aropax and Effexor in high doses before the offences. ²

In a 2010 study conducted by The Institute for Safe Medication Practices, the side-effects of drugs reported to the US Food and Drug Administration were investigated. This study found that the top 10 drugs linked to violence included 5 antidepressants (Prozac, Efexor, Pristiqu, Luvox, & Paxil – known as Aropax in Australia), the amphetamines used for ADHD and the non-stimulant ADHD drug, Strattera [an antidepressant] and the benzodiazepine triazalam (Halcion).³

Not that everyone who takes a psychiatric drug will become violent but clearly some do and often it is experienced when first taking the drug, increased doses or while coming off of it. And for others on these drugs, while they may not harm others, the violence can turn inwards as they attempt or successfully take their own lives at a much greater rate.  Highlighting the potential danger is the 27 international official drug warnings, including in Australia, warning public that psychiatric drugs can cause violence, mania, hostility and aggression.⁴

Australia’s drug regulatory agency’s adverse reaction drug database (Therapeutic Goods Administration) reveals some shocking reports for homicidal behaviour. Their database reveals the following:

• A 35-year-old man’s side effect report states, “The patient experienced disassociation and murdered his wife while on Prozac.”
• A 19-year-old on the antipsychotic Zyprexa and Prozac: “Patient had thoughts of killing himself which made him violent, tried to hit someone else, tried to kill a security guard with feelings of killing and tried to do physical damage. Tried to hurt himself and had thoughts of hurting other people.”
• An 18-year-old on the antidepressant Avanza: “She cleaned the house at night, her sexual desire was absent and she experienced aggression and homicidal ideation -‘cut him up and feed him to the pigs.’”
• A 25-year-old on the antipsychotic Seroquel: “The patient experienced homicidal ideation, suicidal ideation, a suicide attempt, auditory hallucinations and akathisia [inability to remain motionless]. She found herself at her parents’ house carrying a knife with the intention to kill them.” 
• A 21-year-old male also on Seroquel “would wake up wanting to kill himself and everybody.”
• A 24-year-old on Efexor and Zyprexa was reported as: “Wanted to kill people, went into a frenzy and destroyed a shed and wall.”⁵

Executive Director of the Australian National Office of Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) Ms Shelley Wilkins says, “The police, authorities and general public need to be informed about the potential for psychiatric drugs to cause violence and suicide. A federal investigation into the link between psychiatric drugs and acts of senseless violence is urgently needed. We cannot blame this behaviour on depression when it is clearly the psychiatric drugs causing this chemical toxicity in the person leading to uncontrollable acts of violence.”

Warning: It is very important that no-one stops taking any psychiatric drug without the advice and assistance of a competent medical doctor.

1. Clare Harvey & Monica Videnleks, “Drug led to murder: judge”, The Australian, 25 May 2001.
2. David Darragh, “Mum free after murder bid,” The West Australian, 27 May 2004, p.3.
3. http://healthland.time.com/2011/01/07/top-ten-legal-drugs-linked-to-violence/
4. https://www.cchrint.org/psychiatric-drugs/drug_warnings_on_violence/
5. TGA Adverse Drug Reactions, Case Numbers: 21453, 216399, 208473, 208442, 21455, 199503- CCHR has published these full TGA reports on this link: https://cchr.org.au/side-effects ; Abbreviated reports can also be viewed on the TGA website. Generate a report for each drug and search reports. https://www.tga.gov.au/database-adverse-event-notifications-daen