Psych Drugs and Mass Murder
Here we go again. A drifter and lone wolf is somehow off his meds. His anger boils over while he has access to guns. He then goes on a shooting spree killing innocents who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
How many times will the media avoid the most important questions in these recurring tragedies?
First, was John Russell Houser on or off his meds at the time of the shooting in the movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana? If he was on them, what exactly was he taking? Was he also drinking at the same time? Was he taking other prescriptions simultaneously?
If he was not taking his prescribed psychoactive medications, were there withdrawal effects he may have been experiencing from stopping them? It’s clear from the news report that the family had a difficult time keeping him on his meds.
Since bipolar disorder can be very difficult to manage when not on the appropriate medication, the role that the psychiatric condition played is also a major unknown in this tragic episode.
What’s the point?
Powerful psychotropic drugs can have some serious side effects. The pharmaceutical companies rarely admit to some of the most radical psychological repercussions because of the obvious liability they would sustain, both legal and financial.
The same Big Pharma corporations are also quite experienced at avoiding any and all responsibility for any detrimental physical outcomes or aberrant psychological behavior associated with their drug products.
The current case in LA is very similar to the many that have come before, as follows:
The picture that emerged Friday of the gunman who killed two women and wounded nine other people in a theater here was one filled with instability and rage, from a history of mental illness, to vandalizing and booby-trapping a house, to venting his fury at women’s rights, minorities and liberals. [1]
The obvious observation is that when powerful psych meds are thrown in this mix of mental illness, and their use is not closely monitored, anything can happen depending on the patient’s reaction to the drugs or unadvised termination of the medication.
A Disproportionate Number of Mass Murderers have Been on Psych Meds, or Abruptly Stopped Taking Them
Many unsupervised patients simply stop taking their medication because of how it affects them. In some cases, the physical side effects are too much to bear. In others, the psychological symptoms are intolerable. Hence, they feel there is no way out and simply stop taking the meds out of desperation. This was the case with Batman shooter James Holmes, among others.
There are also those instances where the disturbed individual associates their prescription meds with the “system.” The doctor with the white coat is the representative of the system whom they may no longer trust. Their growing paranoia, which is sometimes totally justified, can lead to an abrupt discontinuation of the needed medication.
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