Antidepressants and Violence
David Healy research with sources. It’s time to admit there is a link to violence and antidepressants. To say otherwise verges on ignorance.
Published in 2006, warnings about
adverse behavioural effects of
antidepressants in susceptible
individuals have raised the profile of
these issues with clinicians, patients,
and the public.
- Healy D (2004) Let them eat Prozac. New York:
New York University Press. pp. 124–148. - Pfizer Canada (2004 May 26) Stronger warning
for SSRIs and other newer antidepressants
regarding the potential for behavioural and
emotional changes, including risk of self-harm.
Available: http:⁄⁄www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/
medeff/advisories-avis/prof/2004/
zoloft_2_hpc-cps_e.html. Accessed 21 July 2006. - Pfi zer (2005 February) Zoloft prescribing
information. Available: http:⁄⁄www.fda.gov/
cder/foi/label/2005/019839s053S054lbl.pdf.
Accessed 21 July 2006. - Medicines and Healthcare Products
Regulatory Agency (2004) Report of the
CSM expert working group on the safety
of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Available: http:⁄⁄www.mhra.gov.uk/home/
idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&dDocName=
CON019472&RevisionSelectionMethod=
LatestReleased. Accessed 21 July 2006. - GlaxoSmithKline (2006) Paroxetine adult
suicidality analysis: Major depressive disorder
and non-major depressive disorder—Appendix - Available: http:⁄⁄www.gsk.com/media/
par_current_analysis.htm. Accessed 21 July- Inman W, Kubota K, Pearce G, Wilton L
(1993) P.E.M report number 6. Paroxetine.
Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 2: 393–422.
- Inman W, Kubota K, Pearce G, Wilton L
- Edwards JG, Inman WH, Wilton L, Pearce GL,
Kubota K (1997) Drug safety monitoring of
12692 patients treated with fl uoxetine. Hum
Psychopharmacol 12: 127–137. - Healy D (2000) Emergence of antidepressant
induced suicidality. Prim Care Psychiatry 6:
23–28. - Wagner KD, Ambrosini P, Rynn M, Wohlberg
C, Yang R, et al. (2003) Effi cacy of sertraline in
the treatment of children and adolescents with
major depressive disorder: Two randomized
controlled trials. JAMA 290: 1033–1041. - March JS, Biederman J, Wolkow R, Safferman
A, Mardekian J, et al. (1998) Sertraline
in children and adolescents with OCD: A
multicenter randomized controlled trial. JAMA
280: 1752–1758. - Kuslak V (2003 August 22) Letter to physicians.
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. - Medicines and Healthcare Products
Regulatory Agency (2006) Adverse drug
reactions online information tracking: Drug
analysis print. Available: http:⁄⁄www.mhra.
gov.uk/home/groups/public/documents/
sentineldocuments/dap_1130236020641.pdf.
Accessed 26 July 2006. - Pirmohamed M, Breckenridge AM,
Kitteringham NR, Park BK (1998) Adverse
drug reactions. BMJ 316: 1295–1298. - Medawar C, Herxheimer A, Bell A, Jofre
S (2002) Paroxetine, Panorama and user
reporting of ADRs: Consumer intelligence
matters in clinical practice and post-marketing
drug surveillance. Int J Risk Saf Med 15: 161
169. - Medawar C, Herxheimer A (2003) A
comparison of adverse drug reaction reports
from professionals and users, relating to risk
of dependence and suicidal behaviour with
paroxetine. Int J Risk Saf Med 16: 3–17. - Healy D, Aldred G (2005) Antidepressant drug
use and the risk of suicide. Int Rev Psychiatry
17: 163–172. - Healy D, Whitaker CJ (2003) Antidepressants
and suicide: Risk-benefi t conundrums. J
Psychiatry Neurosci 28: 331–339. - Healy D, Savage M (1998) Reserpine exhumed.
Brit J Psychiatry 172: 376–378. - Cunningham Owens DG (1999) A guide to
the extrapyramidal side-effects of antipsychotic
drugs. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
362 p. - Duncan EJ, Adler LA, Stephanides M, Sanfi lipo
M, Angrist B (2000) Akathisia and exacerbation
of psychopathology: A preliminary report. Clin
Neuropharmacol 23: 169–173. - American Psychiatric Association (2000)
Diagnostic and statistical manual IV TR.
Washington (D. C.): American Psychiatric
Association. - Lane RM (1998) SSRI-induced extrapyramidal
side effects and akathisia: Implications for
treatment. J Psychopharmacol 12: 192–214. - Siris SG (1985) Three cases of akathisia and
“acting out”. J Clin Psychiatry 46: 395–397. - Herrera JN, Sramek JJ, Costa JF, Roy S, Heh
CW, et al. (1988) High potency neuroleptics
and violence in schizophrenia. J Nerv Ment Dis
176: 558–561. - Schulte JR (1985) Homicide and suicide
associated with akathisia and haloperidol. Am J
Forensic Psychiatry 6: 3–7. - Hoehn-Saric R, Lipsey JR, McLeod DR
(1990) Apathy and indifference in patients
on fl uvoxamine and fl uoxetine. J Clin
Psychopharmacol 10: 343–345. - Wilkinson D (1990) Loss of anxiety and
increased aggression in a 15-year-old boy taking
f
l uoxetine. J Psychopharmacol 13: 420. - Garland EJ, Baerg EA (2001) Amotivational
syndrome associated with selective serotonin
reuptake inhibitors in children and adolescents.
J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol 11: 181–186. - Barnhart WJ, Makela EH, Latocha MJ (2004)
SSRI-induced apathy syndrome: A clinical
review. J Psychiatr Pract 10: 196–199. - Wilens TE, Biederman J, Kwon A, Chase R,
Greenberg L, et al. (2003) A systematic chart
review of the nature of psychiatric adverse
events in children and adolescents treated with
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. J Child
Adolesc Psychopharmacol 13: 143–152. - Preda A, MacLean RW, Mazure CM, Bowers
MB (2001) Antidepressant associated
mania and psychosis resulting in psychiatric
admission. J Clin Psychiatry 62: 30–33. - Nakra BR, Szwabo P, Grossberg GT (1989)
Mania induced by fl uoxetine. Am J Psychiatry
146: 1515–1516. - Hersh CB, Sokol MS, Pfeffer C (1991)
Transient psychosis with fl uoxetine. J Am Acad
Child Adolesc Psychiatry 30: 851–852. - Stoll AL, Mayer PV, Kolbrener M, Goldstein
E, Suplit B, et al. (1994) Antidepressant
associated mania: A controlled comparison
with spontaneous mania. Am J Psychiatry 151:
1642–1645. - Narayan M, Meckler L, Nelson JC (1995)
Fluoxetine-induced delusions in psychotic
depression. J Clin Psychiatry 56: 329. - Alao A, Yolles JC, Armenta WC, Dewan MJ
(1991) Somnambulism precipitated by selective
serotonin-reuptake inhibitors. J Pharm Technol
15: 204–207. - Kawashima T, Yamada S (2003) Paroxetine
induced somnambulism. J Clin Psychiatry 64:
483. - Rampling D (1978) Aggression: A paradoxical
response to tricyclic antidepressants. Am J
Psychiatry 135: 117–118. - United States District Court of Wyoming
(2001) Tobin v. SmithKline Beecham
Pharmaceuticals. Fed Suppl 164: 1278. - New South Wales Supreme Court (2001)
Regina v. Hawkins. NSWSC 420: paragraph 66. - Supreme Court of Western Australia (2004)
State of Western Australia and B, Sentence,
Transcript of Proceedings, Perth, May 26, 2004.
67 of 2004. - Mendelson WB (1994) Sleepwalking associated
with zolpidem. J Clin Psychopharmacol 14: 150. - Harazin J, Berigan TR (1999) Zolpidem tartrate
and somnambulism. Mil Med 164: 669–670. - Baonza MY, Garcia-Borra JMF, Majada
AC, Gonzalez RS (2003) [Somnambulism
associated with zolpidem.] [Article in Spanish]
Aten Primaria 32: 438. - Menkes DB (2000) Hypnosedatives and
anxiolytics. In: Dukes MNG, Aronson JK,
editors. Meyler’s side effects of drugs. 14th
Edition. Amsterdam: Elsevier. pp. 121–138. - Supreme Court of Mississippi (2002) Bennett v.
Madakasira. So. 2d 821: 794. - 7th Circuit Court of Florida for St. Johns
County (2006) State of Florida v. Leslie
Demeniuk. Case Number CF-01-930. - (2005) State of South Carolina v.
Christopher Frank Pittman. Case Number
04-GS-12-571. - Springer J (2005 February 16) Jurors find
teenager guilty of murdering his grandparents.
Court TV News. Available: http:⁄⁄www.courttv.
com/trials/pittman/021505_verdict_ctv.html.
Accessed 1 August 2006. - (2005) State of South Carolina v. Christopher
Frank Pittman. Case Number 04-GS-12-571.
Trial transcript. pp. 2467– 2468

These drugs have definitely made people act in violent ways. Tens to hundreds of thousands of people or more have committed acts of homicide or suicide while suffering under the influence of these drugs. These drugs have also harmed millions of other people by damaging their brains, harming their organs, and causing other terrible effects. There should be a class action lawsuits against the drug manufacturers for contuining to sell a product that they know is harming people and causing some to act in violent ways. It’s not a secret we’ve known about these side effects for years now. It’s time for some accountability for those who have willfully kept harming people with these toxic chemicals.