The Perils of Prozac
Part
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Note: If you or anyone you know
are currently taking an SSRI and are doing well on it do not
discontinue your medication based upon this article. Although the
information presented here may be cause for concern, it does not
mean that you will become violent while taking SSRIs. In fact, if
you discontinue a medication that is working well for you, you may
risk withdrawal symptoms, depression or suicidal feelings. You
should never discontinue any medication on your own. Always consult
your physician first.
INTRODUCTION
In the wake of the recent school
shootings in Littleton, CO, we are left shaking our heads wondering
what went wrong and how can we prevent such a tragedy from
recurring. Fingers have been pointed at everything from lax gun
control laws to the parents themselves. Blame has also been laid at
the feet of the antidepressant drug Luvox,
which one of the boys was being treated with. This is not the first
time one of the new generation antidepressants called SSRIs, or
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, have been implicated in
acts of violence. This week we begin a series of articles examining
the connection between these "wonder drugs of the 90's" and
violence.
A DISTURBING TREND
During recent years homicide has decreased
to a low not seen since the late 1960's. Oddly enough, however,
"murder/suicide", road rage, school violence and workplace violence
have increased during this time period. Could this rise be due to
SSRIs? The International Coalition for Drug Awareness would have us
believe so. Their home page cites this troubling
statistic:
'The first Selective
Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor to be released was Prozac in January
of 1988. Since then we have had Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, Effexor and
Serzone. We also have had SSRIs that are diet pills. These are
Redux & the "fen" of phen/fen. The time frame for these new
drugs is exactly the same as the time frame for the 7% rise each
year in "road rage".' (Author's Note: A reader was kind enough to
point out that there are actually only five drugs which fall into
the class called SSRIs - Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, and Celexa.
Effexor and Serzone belong to a class called Newer Antidepressants
and Redux is not an anitdepressant at all. While I did quote this
from someone else, I should have noticed the inaccuracy. Many
thanks to Donald Cameron for pointing out the
error.)
Whether this assertion is true or not,
a visit to the Bureau
of Justice Statistics Homepage does confirm these types of crime
as being growing concerns in modern America.
No other drug in history has become
such a cultural icon as Prozac has. The Prozac
Pez Web Page gives just an inkling of the status that Prozac
holds in our society. According to an article found on the Prozac
Survivor's Homepage, there are now in the United States
approximately 36 million people who have taken an SSRI - 30 million
as an antidepressant and 6 million as a diet drug. That is one out
of 7 Americans, both adult and children, who have taken an SSRI. If
Prozac is responsible for even a small portion of violent crimes and
suicides, then this is indeed cause for alarm.
IN THE NEWS
One has only to pick up a recent
newspaper or switch on the TV to see that SSRIs are increasingly
being blamed for violent crimes in America. Here is a sampling of
recent news stories involving an SSRI and a violent
crime:
April
28, 1999 - A Washington Post article reveals that the
Littleton, CO youth who opened fire and killed several of his
classmates was rejected by the Marine Corp earlier this year because
he lied about the fact that he was taking a prescription
antidepressant called Luvox.
June
8, 1998 - An Associated Press article reveals that Brynn
Hartman, wife of comedian Phil Hartman, had the antidepressant
Zoloft in her bloodstream when she murdered her husband in his sleep
and then later turned the gun on herself. The attorney for the
family argues
that because Mrs. Hartman had had alcohol and cocaine before, Zoloft
was the only new variable and therefore must have been
responsible.
June
1, 1998 - An article in The Oregonian raises questions
about Prozac's relationship to violence after a sixteen-year-old
boy, Kip Kinkel, guns down his parents and then his school mates at
Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon. Kinkel had been
prescribed the antidepressant drug Prozac for his
depression.
January
1, 1998 - A Star Bulletin article reports that the role
of Prozac in a Maui murder-suicide will be argued in a June 2, 1998
hearing in Honolulu's federal court. Five years prior, William
Forsyth stabbed his wife 15 times then propped a knife on a stool
and stabbed himself. He had been on Prozac for two weeks at the
time.
December
8, 1997 - Time magazine article reports that INXS lead
vocalist Michael Hutchence was found naked and dead hanging by a
belt attached to the closing mechanism of his hotel room door. A
bottle of Prozac was found in his room just after the
suicide.
Next: Read
one woman's true experience with becoming violent of
Prozac. 
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