Violence and Prescription Drugs: The Apparent ConnectionCatherine J. Frompovich, Contributor The recent unfortunate school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, placed a spotlight on gun violencerightfully so. However, what seems to be missing in the equation to reduce gun violence in the USAat leastis something that I, as a concerned citizen, healthcare researcher and pacifist, think needs to be spotlighted. Its the inordinate use of psychotropic drugs in younger children, which may have impact upon their behavior. Negative side effects while taking psychotropic drugs are not anomalies, as the following list apparently documents. According to a website providing individuals stories about adverse effects/events relating to SSRI medications called SSRI Stories, we find some rather thought-provoking information, especially regarding those stories noted **Indicates a school shooting or school incident. The SSRI Stories website lists hundreds, if not thousands, of stories about the horrors related to taking psychotropic drugs. The list below starts in April of 1988 and goes through October 2011. As noted on the SSRI Stories website, the person who kept that log has passed away, so probably its not been kept current. However, I find the stories listed below implicating guilt by association since the perpetrators ofschool shootings and other violence apparently were taking whats called psychotropic drugs. According to the National Institutes of Mental Health website [1], School Stand-Off Apr. 13, 1988 Idaho Zoloft antidepressant School Shooting Jan. 30, 1992 Michigan Prozac antidepressant School Shooting Sep. 20, 1992 Texas Antidepressants School Shooting Related July 23, 1993 Florida Luvox School Shooting Oct. 12, 1995 South Carolina Zoloft Antidepressant School Violence/Murder May 5, 1994 N.Y. Antidepressants School Shooting May 21, 1998 Oregon Prozac antidepressant withdrawal School Shooting Plot Dec. 1, 1998 Wisconsin Med for depression School Shooting Threat Apr. 16, 1999 Idaho Antidepressant School Shooting Apr. 20, 1999 Colorado Luvox Zoloft Antidepressants School Threats Oct. 19, 1999 Florida Prozac antidepressant School Shooting Mar. 10, 2001 Pennsylvania Paxil School Hostage Situation Apr. 15, 2001 Wash. Paxil Effexor antidepressants School Shooting Apr. 19, 2001 California Celexa Effexor antidepressants School Stabbings June 9, 2001 Japan Antidepressants School Machete Attack Sept. 26, 2001 Penna. Med for depression School Shooting Jan. 17, 2002 Virginia Antidepressant ? School Shooting Threat May 31, 2003 Michigan Antidepressant School Shooting Feb. 9, 2004 New York Paxil antidepressant School Shooting Threat Oct. 19, 2004 N.J. Med for depression School/Assault Feb. 15, 2006 Tennessee Zoloft antidepressant School Shooting Mar. 24, 2005 Minnesota Prozac Antidepressant School Shooting Aug. 30, 2006 North Carolina Celexa antidepressant School Shooting Sept. 30, 2006 Colorado Antidepressant School Hostage Situation Nov. 28, 2006 N.C. Antidepressant withdrawal School Knife Attack Dec. 6, 2006 Indiana Med for depression School Stabbing Dec. 4, 2006 Indiana Wellbutrin School Shooting Apr. 18, 2007 Virginia Antidepressant questionable School Threat Apr. 23, 2007 Mississippi Antidepressants School Suspension July 28, 2007 Arkansas Lexapro antidepressant School Shooting Oct. 12, 2007 Ohio Antidepressant withdrawal School Shooting Nov. 11, 2007 Finland Antidepressant withdrawal School Threat Jan. 25, 2008 Washington Prozac antidepressant School Shooting Feb. 2, 2008 Illinois Prozac withdrawal School Suicide/Lockdown Feb. 20, 2008 Idaho Med for depression School Stabbing Feb. 28, 2008 Texas Med for depression School Threat Mar. 20, 2008 Indiana Antidepressants School Shooting Plot Aug. 28, 2008 Texas Med for depression withdrawal School Shooting Mar. 13, 2009 Germany Med for depression School Shooting Mar. 18, 2011 South Carolina Meds for depression ADHD School Hostage Situation Apr. 11, 2009 N.Y. Cymbalta antidepressant withdrawal School/Assault Nov.4, 2009 California Antidepressant School Shooting Threats Jan. 25, 2010 Virginia Celexa antidepressant School Shooting Feb. 19, 2010 Finland SSRI drug School Knifing/Murder Apr. 28, 2010 Mass. Medications for Depression ADHD School Incident/Bizarre Aug. 22, 2010 Australia Zoloft School Hostage Situation Dec. 15, 2010 France Med for depression School Massacre Plot Feb. 23, 2011 Virginia Prozac withdrawal Illinois School Shooting July 11, 2011 Alabama Zoloft Antidepressant ADHD med School Stabbing Oct. 25, 2011 Washington Med for depression For those interested in finding more information about SSRI drugs, you may want to check out this rather informative website, Anxiety Medication and Kids at Education. Too many physicians are too quick, in my opinion, to prescribe SSRIs for kids. Recently I heard that physicians will be labeling more and more children as bipolar, which means more psychotropic drugs. Will there be more violent crimes committed by children who may not be responsible for their acts, as such acts are drug-inducednot gun or knife induced, as many would have the public believe? When on psychotropic drugs, kids can be compared to a person who may be chronically drunk because of how those drugs change personality traits. In May of 2012 ABC News reported Childhood Bipolar Boom: More Cases or Misdiagnoses? A 40-fold rise in bipolar disorder is being reported by physicians. Why so? My suggestion would be to reconsider all the neurotoxins and toxic chemicals found in vaccines that are being pumped into kids as soon as they exist the womb [Hepatitis B vaccine] with more vaccinations in multiple combinations at 2, 4 and 6 months! Doesnt medicine realize that those chemicals and neurotoxins cross the blood brain barrier? Poisons were not meant to enter the brain. Isnt that what the blood brain barrier is all about? UPDATE: Heres documentation that theres more to the culture of violence in the USA than just guns. NBC News reported January 25, 2013 in a feature story, Teens confession: Horror film inspired murder of mom, sister, that 17-year-old Jake Evans admitted in a four page confession that he got the idea to shoot and kill his mother and sister after watching the remake of Halloween three times during that week! Another gun killing story apparently precipitated by entertainment. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/25/16692073-teens-confession-horror-film-inspired-murder-of-mom-sister?lite Reference: Catherine J Frompovich (website) is a retired natural nutritionist who earned advanced degrees in Nutrition and Holistic Health Sciences, Certification in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice plus Paralegal Studies. Her work has been published in national and airline magazines since the early 1980s. Catherine authored numerous books on health issues along with co-authoring papers and monographs with physicians, nurses, and holistic healthcare professionals. She has been a consumer healthcare researcher 35 years and counting. Catherines latest book, A Cancer Answer, Holistic BREAST Cancer Management, A Guide to Effective Non-Toxic Treatments, is available on Amazon.com and as a Kindle eBook. Two of Catherines more recent books on Amazon.com are Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA, A Probe Into Whats Probably Making Us Sick (2009) and Lord, How Can I Make It Through Grieving My Loss, An Inspirational Guide Through the Grieving Process (2008). 