How Dangerous are Prescribed Drugs?

Shadow · 04-28-2007, 06:31 AM

Alexander Cockburn: Bring Back the Posse

How dangerous are anti-depressents?

Part of the article cites the following :

Quote:

Anti-Depressants and Killers--A Sampler

Eric Harris was on Luvox and Jeff Wiese was on Prozac.

Kip Kinkle (Oregon), on methylphenidate and Prozac, killed four people, including his own parents, and wounded at least 22 others.

Luke Woodham (Mississippi), on an SSRI, killed three people, including his mother, and wounded at least six others.

Jason Hoffman (California), while taking the antidepressants Celexa and Effexor, shot and wounded four students and two teachers. He later committed suicide while incarcerated.

Cory Baadsgaard (Washington). On Effexor, he held 23 classmates and a teacher hostage with a rifle.

Elizabeth Bush (Pennsylvania). She blasted away at fellow students, wounding one. She was on an antidepressant.

T.J. Solomon (Georgia). He wounded six classmates. He was on antidepressants.

Shawn Cooper (Idaho). He fired two shotgun rounds in his school, narrowly missing human targets. He was on antidepressants.

Jeremy Strohmeyer (Nevada). He raped and killed a 7-year-old in a ladies' room. He was on Dexedrine.

Michael Carneal (Kentucky). He killed three students and wounded five others. He was on Ritalin.

I wonder if there is something about modern society that is causing these sorts of events? Too much time in front of a computer perhaps? Too much time spent watching TV and lurid DVDs?

My apologies if this has been posted before, there is so much to read in here I cannot keep up.

Nightrider · 04-28-2007, 06:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadow

Alexander Cockburn: Bring Back the Posse

How dangerous are anti-depressents?

Part of the article cites the following :

I wonder if there is something about modern society that is causing these sorts of events? Too much time in front of a computer perhaps? Too much time spent watching TV and lurid DVDs?

My apologies if this has been posted before, there is so much to read in here I cannot keep up.

I read the article with interest. . . I agree with most of it, except for this part: "What should be banned from campuses are not weapons but prescriptions for antidepressants." That's got to be the stupidest thing I've ever read in my life. . .

I would not be able to go to school without my anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medication that I am taking (I am presently a college student).
Let me clue you, if you take away my medication, that would not be a good thing. I have a tendency to get very angry off my meds (and like the old "Incredible Hulk" show used to say - "You would not like me when I get angry."). However, on meds I'm fine, and that's something that people need to understand. . .

Anyway, have a nice day. . .

- Nightrider

CrazyFlamingos · 04-28-2007, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nightrider

I read the article with interest. . . I agree with most of it, except for this part: "What should be banned from campuses are not weapons but prescriptions for antidepressants." That's got to be the stupidest thing I've ever read in my life. . .

I would not be able to go to school without my anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medication that I am taking (I am presently a college student).
Let me clue you, if you take away my medication, that would not be a good thing. I have a tendency to get very angry off my meds (and like the old "Incredible Hulk" show used to say - "You would not like me when I get angry."). However, on meds I'm fine, and that's something that people need to understand. . .

Anyway, have a nice day. . .

- Nightrider

I think that probably what needs to be done is not to ban them but for doctor's to be better educated about their use and possible side effects.

Your primary physician should not be giving out prescriptions for psychotropics unless he has also had specialized training in psychiatry. Too many times they just give out a prescription for depression without any sort of screening beyond a short conversation with the patient.

And then they don't monitor the patient for possible problems. "Call me if you have any problems" just doesn't cut it when dealing with individuals with psychological issues.

I have a close friend who was given Zoloft for mild depression. About a week later I ended up having to take a knife away from her because she was threatening to kill herself. She had never been suicidal before despite years of being clinically depressed but unmedicated.

I had heard about the possibility of just this effect with Zoloft and I convinced her to quit taking them and call her doctor for an immediate appointment.

Did he take the hint and send her to a specialist?

No, he just switched her to Wellbutrin.

It happens that the Wellbutrin works for her and she is a happier, more emotionally balanced person so long as she takes them. But her doctor only sees her once a year. Actually he doesn't usually see her at all, the nurse practitioner does.

From what I have read and heard, her situation is all too common.

I believe that the prescription of these drugs should not be in the hands of physicians who are practising amateur psychiatry.

Nightrider · 04-28-2007, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrazyFlamingos

I think that probably what needs to be done is not to ban them but for doctor's to be better educated about their use and possible side effects.

Your primary physician should not be giving out prescriptions for psychotropics unless he has also had specialized training in psychiatry. Too many times they just give out a prescription for depression without any sort of screening beyond a short conversation with the patient.

And then they don't monitor the patient for possible problems. "Call me if you have any problems" just doesn't cut it when dealing with individuals with psychological issues.

I have a close friend who was given Zoloft for mild depression. About a week later I ended up having to take a knife away from her because she was threatening to kill herself. She had never been suicidal before despite years of being clinically depressed but unmedicated.

I had heard about the possibility of just this effect with Zoloft and I convinced her to quit taking them and call her doctor for an immediate appointment.

Did he take the hint and send her to a specialist?

No, he just switched her to Wellbutrin.

It happens that the Wellbutrin works for her and she is a happier, more emotionally balanced person so long as she takes them. But her doctor only sees her once a year. Actually he doesn't usually see her at all, the nurse practitioner does.

From what I have read and heard, her situation is all too common.

I believe that the prescription of these drugs should not be in the hands of physicians who are practising amateur psychiatry.

Agreed, and your point is well taken. . .

Actually, my physicians have all been among the best in the country, and even the world. One of the guys I've seen was the one who introduced Risperdal into the US. . . I've had to go to the leading doctors, as my illness is just too complex. . . especially for an amateur to deal with.

Anyway, for anyone who would like more info on mental illness (particularly what it is like to suffer from one and then recover), I encourage you to visit my thread here in the "Health Care" forum. . .

God bless.

- Nightrider

sear · 04-28-2007, 12:18 PM

Quote:

"Kip Kinkle (Oregon), on methylphenidate and Prozac, killed four people, including his own parents, and wounded at least 22 others."

I'm no fan of Prozac. But in its defense, Kip Kinkle was a psycho-sociopath, regardless of meds.

Apart from that, the issue about the pharmacological risks & harm of drugs is turned topsy-turvy by Drug War.
Aspirin may kill dozens of U.S. citizens each year. According to what I've read, marijuana doesn't. Perhaps if the government would allow more studies of it, they could find more wrong with it.
Despite all that, marijuana is known for its mood altering properties. And I've never heard of marijuana being linked to the sorts of spree murders Prozac is associated with.
Aspirin kills ~dozens. Marijuana kills ~none.
So what does our government do?
It makes Aspirin available OTC.
And marijuana is "schedule 1"; unavailable, even by prescription*.

Quote:

"It's insanity!" 1992 Libertarian U.S. Presidential candidate Andre Marrou

* Unavailable even to researchers.

Fourstarball · 04-28-2007, 03:47 PM

I can't speak for the drugs themselves, but these people are on these drugs because they already have issues.

I've known/know people who are on them. One person cannot come off, and when she tries it makes life so bad she goes back on them in heavier doses. It's like yo-yo dieting.

Many antidepressants can't be dished out to people who are already suicidal because it will enhance those feelings. With others it makes them agressive, but makes them feel better. My concern is that there's little way a doctor can tell the difference between someone who'll get smashed or out of hand on drugs and what's considered to be a normal person. We all have different alocohol limits, for example. It might take you just a couple of pints to get you to the same place I'd be in if I drank eight. It's the same with drugs of any nature.

sear · 04-29-2007, 01:43 AM

Quote:

"Many antidepressants can't be dished out to people who are already suicidal because it will enhance those feelings." Four

Amen!
For anybody that's on Prozac, I'd tell them; NEVER miss a single dose.

8 pints = 1 gallon

wow

teethandclaws · 04-29-2007, 09:15 PM

I've read that when someone has a schizophrenic break, the brain never functions as it once did. I have to wonder if it has something to do with the way the drugs they take for it work on the brain, if they in fact worsen the condition.
Case in point, in a psychiatric journal, I read a story about a 20 something year-old who was super-smart, doing extremely well with high grades, then some time around finals had a schizophrenic breakdown and was institutionalized and medicated. Upon trying to return to college, was unable to compete academically.
Blaming it on the meds, quit taking them and tried to return to school, taking just one class, but still couldn't cut it.
Had another break and got back on meds and gave up college.
Was it the schizophrenia or the medication, or a combination of both?
Keep in mind, when someone is properly medicated, the paranoiah, hallucinations and other symptoms are kept at bay. The thing people with this condition have to watch out for are triggers, which are different for each individual. What seems to have triggered this person was the stress of final exams.

caffeinebuzzchick · 05-02-2007, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadow

Alexander Cockburn: Bring Back the Posse

How dangerous are anti-depressents?

I wonder if there is something about modern society that is causing these sorts of events? Too much time in front of a computer perhaps? Too much time spent watching TV and lurid DVDs?

Well, for one thing, drugs are not generally tested on young people. The younger the person is, the less we know about how that young person (college-age, say) would react to modern anti-depressants. (I note with interest that SSRIs--being one of the newest classes of anti-depressant medication--seem to be linked to violence, as opposed to older classes of anti-depressants such as MAOIs [which aren't prescribed often because of nasty side-effects and food-drug interactions] or tricyclics) There just aren't enough studies.

The other thing is that someone who was on anti-depressants to begin with isn't... well... sane (that's a technical term). Due to the chemical imbalance caused by organically-based mental illness, there is likely to be a predisposition to destructive behavior.

Just my 2 cents.

Nightrider · 05-02-2007, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caffeinebuzzchick

Well, for one thing, drugs are not generally tested on young people. The younger the person is, the less we know about how a young person (college-age, say) would react to modern anti-depressants. (I note with interest that SSRIs--being one of the newest class of anti-depressant medication--seem to be linked to violence, as opposed to older classes of anti-depressants such as MAOIs [which aren't prescribed often because of nasty side-effects and food-drug interactions] or tricyclics) There just aren't enough studies.

The other thing is that someone who was on anti-depressants to begin with isn't... well... sane (that's a technical term). Due to the chemical imbalance caused by organically-based mental illness, there is likely to be a predisposition to destructive behavior.

Just my 2 cents.

I would have to agree with you. . . I am definitely not sane (haven't been in years)! Then again, who is nowadays? lol