Posted on 12/04/2004 2:32:26 PM PST by neverdem
Columbine shooter was prescribed anti-depressant
School Shootings Linked to Psychotropic Drugs Such as Prozac, Ritalin, Luvox, and Paxil
Troubling. They claim the med leads to suicide attempts, then use it to justify cold blooded murder?!?
The lack of remorse is not a side effect of Zoloft.
Anti-depressants have their place, but it should only be a bridge until the person can get really well by treating the CAUSE rather than the SYMPTOMS. The anti-depressants do not even claim to address the cause -- only the symptoms.
Young people are susceptible to being prescribed anti-depressants for a variety of reasons. A suicide threat is a serious thing. But a lot of depressant manifestations are due to chemical imbalances caused by a notorious poor diet, common among young people. Where do neuro-transmitters come from? Building blocks, i.e. nutrition. Supplements of neuro-transmitter building blocks are available, but the manufacturers of Zoloft et al won't tell anyone about that.
Again, the meds have a place, but the cause needs to be addressed, not merely the symptoms. Maybe this kid was not even depressed, just messed up . . .
Bottom line: I wouldn't want him dating my daughter.
If this JD was on antidepressants, it would mean, hopefully, that they were prescribed for depression.
So, he started out in a state of "mental unbalance".
Blaming the drugs for a really unbalanced act is a tad premature, given the current level
of knowledge in the evolving "science" of Psycho-pharmacology.
Not all drugs are appropriate to all people, ergo, tarring the drug may prevent it from helping
those for whom it could be effective.
deep pocket sniffing ambulance chasing shark lawyer alert.
'Sfunny. I take Elavil (Amitryptaline) to help with the pain of diabetic peripheral neuropathy ('off label') and I have not had the urge to murder anybody...
If there is in fact a "chemical imbalance," it should be detectable by chemical means. However, no chemical tests are ever done. Instead, it is just assumed that an imbalance exists, and anti-depressants are prescribed, often one after another, until they find one that "works." And this is supposed to be scientific?
Zoloft is just like candy. It can't possibly hurt you.
And anybody who thinks that there is something wrong when half the country is taking psychotropic drugs is a psychopath who should seek help from a psychiatrist who will fix it with whatever drug the pharmaceutical companies are pushing this week.
</sarcasm>
SSRIs have saved far more lives than they have ever taken.
No doubt, that's true. The main reason I posted it was because I was unaware so many of the school shooters were on either SSRIs or ritalin or both until recently. I had read that Harris, of Columbine infamy, was prescribed a SSRI. He was rejected for enlistment to the Marine Corps in the week before the slaughter, either because was taking the drug or he lied about taking it. Perhaps Harris was undergoing what some have called SSRI withdrawal syndrome.
IIRC, the kid in the article on this thread had been started on Zoloft a few weeks before the killings, having the dose increased only days before it happened. This is in the same time frame for which the SSRIs just received their "black box warning" for suicide alert. It seems obvious to me, although I have a professional interest in adverse drug reactions, that there's a small subset of patients who become quite irrational and agitated, when either treatment has just been started an extreme example of it being Serotonin syndrome, or when treatment is stopped abruptly, and that the aggression they exhibit can be towards themselves or others, in the latter case without any apparent motive.
The second link that I gave in comment# 2 has an obvious error in it. It says Ritalin is a SSRI which is not true. Ritalin is a stimulant related to the amphetamine class of drugs which has psychosis as common adverse drug reaction. Most of it's links are useless. That's what I get when I didn't examine the entire link.
I hope he wasn't listening to Huey Lewis and The News, "I want a New Drug." Those poor old guys will face a lawsuit.
Pittman case moves forward
Benjamin Etzioni / Staff Writer
The Christopher Pittman double murder case may end up in juvenile court after all.
Judge Daniel Pieper denied a motion - Friday in Charleston - by the defense to dismiss the charges against Pittman saying the boy's constitutional right to a speedy trial has not been violated.
Pittman has been in a Columbia detention center for more than three years awaiting trial for the murder of his grandparents, Joe and Joy Pittman, in Chester in November of 2001.
Pieper will soon rule on a motion to have the case sent back to juvenile court, where the maximum sentence would keep Pittman in jail until he turns 21. If tried as an adult, Pittman could face life in prison if convicted.
According to a spokesperson for the 5th Circuit Solicitor's Office, the date and the venue for the trial have not been finalized yet. Friday's pre-trial hearing was held in Charleston because that is where Pieper is currently sitting.
When the trial does eventually go forward Pittman's attorneys will have the use of previously concealed drug documents at their disposal.
The defense will argue that an adverse reaction to antidepressant medication, specifically Zoloft, led to his violent behavior.
Pieper denied an attempt by Pfizer, the drug company that makes Zoloft, to block attempts to get certain documents admitted in the case.
The defense alleges that these documents will show that Pfizer has known and concealed information that proves Zoloft can cause some people to become hostile and possibly homicidal. Pittman had taken Zoloft and another antidepressant for more than a month before the killings.
Was this juvenile murderer on Ritalin before he went on the anti depressant? Many of these so called anti depressant juvenile killers were on Ritaling at one time.
The second factor that these headline hunters omit is: Where his parents abusing drugs before he was conceived and after his mother became pregnant?
Last but not least was this kid on illegal street drugs like Crank and other street drugs which have documented records of horrible violence committed by those abusing these powerful/illegal drugs?
Was this juvenile murderer on Ritalin before he went on the anti depressant? Many of these so called anti depressant juvenile killers were on Ritalin at one time. The potential of later violence after Ritalin is so severe that our military will not take any in the military who has ever been on Ritalin.
The second factor that these headline hunters omit is: Where his parents abusing drugs before he was conceived and after his mother became pregnant? Babies born to drug abusing parents have changed brain waves and PET scans. Often they are walking/ticking human time bombs waking to explode with no warning.
Last but not least was this kid on illegal street drugs like Crank and other street drugs which have documented records of horrible violence committed by those abusing these powerful/illegal drugs?
When you have time, would you please remove this reply.
SBC/Yahoo must have burped with a double reply.
Thanks.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.