Our friend Ross from Panama City follows up on our post: Are We Creating The Monsters? Questions We Should Be Asking In The Aftermath Of Sandy Hook with a link to a list that ties school violence to prescription drug use:
| Click on the blue ‘What’ to access a story. Click on a red column heading to sort the index by that column. | ||||
| What | Drug | Date | Where | Additional |
| School Shooting | Prozac WITHDRAWAL | 2008-02-15 | Illinois | ** 6 Dead: 15 Wounded: Perpetrator Was in Withdrawal from Med & Acting Erratically |
| School Shooting | Prozac Antidepressant | 2005-03-24 | Minnesota | **10 Dead: 7 Wounded: Dosage Increased One Week before Rampage |
| School Shooting | Paxil [Seroxat] Antidepressant | 2001-03-10 | Pennsylvania | **14 Year Old GIRL Shoots & Wounds Classmate at Catholic School |
| School Shooting | Zoloft Antidepressant & ADHD Med | 2011-07-11 | Alabama | **14 Year Old Kills Fellow Middle School Student |
| School Shooting | Zoloft Antidepressant | 1995-10-12 | South Carolina | **15 Year Old Shoots Two Teachers, Killing One: Then Kills Himself |
| School Shooting | Med For Depression | 2009-03-13 | Germany | **16 Dead Including Shooter: Antidepressant Use: Shooter in Treatment For Depression |
| School Hostage Situation | Med For Depression | 2010-12-15 | France | **17 Year Old with Sword Holds 20 Children & Teacher Hostage |
| School Shooting Plot | Med For Depression WITHDRAWAL | 2008-08-28 | Texas | **18 Year Old Plots a Columbine School Attack |
| School Shooting | Anafranil Antidepressant | 1988-05-20 | Illinois | **29 Year Old WOMAN Kills One Child: Wounds Five: Kills Self |
| School Shooting | Luvox/Zoloft Antidepressants | 1999-04-20 | Colorado | **COLUMBINE: 15 Dead: 24 Wounded |
| School Stabbings | Antidepressants | 2001-06-09 | Japan | **Eight Dead: 15 Wounded: Assailant Had Taken 10 Times his Normal Dose of Depression Med |
It is a long list – go have a look.
This is not something that is scientific but as I queried in the earlier post, isn’t this something that we should at least have a conversation over before the urge to Just Do Somethingtm takes over?
Thanks to Ross.
The Rio Norte Line 
I think it is fairly uncontroversial to suggest that people who commit or, would commit, mass violence are more likely to suffer from some sort of mental illness, and that people who suffer from mental illness are more likely to be medicated for mental illness. Let’s not get our causality mixed up here.
Most cancer patients who die in a hospitals are undergoing treatment for cancer. Does that mean that the chemo is causing them to die?
For a blog that often attributes the failures of the left to a poor grasp of logic and reasoning, this seems a little trite.
But cancer patients do die of chemo. Chemotherapy is a controlled poisoning of the human body. I have an uncle who is dying of cancer because he refused another round of chemo – the reason? The first round almost killed him. They had to reduce the dosage below what was needed to kill the cancer cells because it was killing him.
I asserted nothing. What I stated was that there appears to be a link that should be questioned. I implied nothing other than that. You inferred through your own biases that I was stating that psychotropic drug use was the cause and that is something that I have never stated.
But to your “logic”: if a man gets drunk, runs into a crowd of people, killing some of them, do we ignore the fact that he was drunk and that alcohol was the cause of it? Do we simply forget that alcohol changes the perception and receptive power of the human brain?
Why would it be illegitimate to ask these questions for the impact of either the presence or absence of medication?
My point was that if we are going to allow the gun “debate” to reach a crescendo without having a go at potential other causes, then it really isn’t just about guns or gun control.
Since trite means overused and consequently of little import or lacking originality or freshness and the very point was that this is not being discussed, it is actually the opposite of “trite”, don’t you think?
Matt,
I offer this ONLY for consideration, but consideration as a counter-point to your comment.
The VAST majority of the homeless suffer from at least one form of mental illness. The homeless also have easy access to weapons (they are in the “underground” of society every day). So, when was the last time you heard a story about a homeless person committing a mass murder?
I think it goes hand-in-hand with the drugs, but the majority of the people in question here also come from affluent homes. We shouldn’t overlook the connection here: affluence gains access to these drugs, homelessness does not.
But perhaps many of these people are OVER-medicated or shouldn’t be medicated at all……As Not all people who suffer from mental illness are medicated or commit crimes.
These facts were left out of your “logic and reasoning”.
My comment was for Matt.
I sent the link to Utah as I have been exploring this issue as my oldest son was diagnosed with Aspergers when he was 10.
Now he his 27 and working on his Accounting degree at FSU – Panama City; while he works at H&R Block and interns at Bay Medical in the Accounting Department. Over the years I have seen the effect of prescription drugs his Dr’s had prescribed for him. While he never has been violent, I have seen a wide range of mood swings. My question has always been are prescription drugs part of the solution or part of the problem.
Thanks, Ross.
I hope you know that I’m not blaming AS or autism for any of this…but my wife has taught both ends of special ed from developmentally delayed to exceptional kids and she has seen a lot of what you mentioned in the schools…and like your son, she has seen some truly bright kids who suffered from these mental illnesses (I even hesitate to say illness because a high percentage of autistic and AS kids are higher functioning than most of us, just usually in one or two specific areas).
Ross,
We have a child who is most likely Aspergers, but we have purposely NOT sought to have him tested because we know what would follow a diagnosis (we also have a close family relative who is a speech therapist inside the school system and she works with the autistic children). HOWEVER, our son was put on meds — mostly because of pressure from the school system and teachers. I can tell you, we saw a difference in him after he started on his meds. We saw him pretty much “zombified,” but the teachers couldn’t stop praising him for “how much better” he behaved.
The funny part of this is, WITHOUT TELLING THE SCHOOL, we took him off the meds. To this day, the school system thinks he is on meds. they never noticed any difference in him, I think it is PARTIALLY institutionalized to just medicate any child who exhibits what was once considered to be NORMAL BEHAVIOR FOR BOYS!
Saw a demonstration of an Educator who thought too many kids were being medicated for behavioral problems. He took a kid who had been diagnosed with ADHD.
He found out a little about him, talked with him a while….then challanged the boy saying that in a staring contest he( the Teacher) would outlast the boy. For a painful 4 minutes they stared at each other…..the boy NEVER waivered, not once…..the Teacher broke the contest, called the Boy a winner in front of everyone, and said ” He doesn’t have ADHD…..he’s bored in class”…..The boys parents were in disbelief….as he was supposedly a hopeless case.
It was pretty amazing to whatch. Especially since the kid did seem fidgity as we all took our seats……and the teacher asked for volunteers.
Kudos to Ross. Then again, he is a Longhorn…
So are psychotropic drugs the Devil’s doorway, then? Personally, I still feel that it boils down to morals. Like B., I too have dealt with this issue firsthand.
I think I would not be remiss in stating that John Snow used this exact style of investigation to solve the riddle of the 1854 Cholera outbreak that occurred in London England.
His strategy of in this study has been followed by medicine ever since.