Prescription for Violence? SSRI Drugs and Mass Shootings

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Everyone, no matter how great their life, has periods of feeling sad or down, and times when they are moody or depressed. Situational depression typically occurs in response to specific life events or stressors. Teenagers in particular are prone to have extreme episodes of painful growing experiences. Clinical depression, on the other hand, is a serious long-term illness.

Also known as major depressive disorder, clinical depression is diagnosed based on specific criteria such as the duration and severity of symptoms, and the impacts it has on a person’s daily functioning. Rates of diagnosis have risen steeply in recent years, but that’s because Americans are over-diagnosed and over-treated for depression, says the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

In the modern world, clinical depression is routinely treated with psychotropic drugs. However, just like antibiotics and opioids, these drugs may be given inappropriately or prescribed when not really needed. Pushing pills is easy for physicians and psychiatrists to do. Antonio Harden, MD, director of Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Stanford Health Care, told Stanford Medicine, “Therapy is also more work for patients, and their parents, than taking pills.”

Understanding Psychotropic Drugs

Psychotropic drugs are any medications that affect the mind, emotions, and behavior. These can include medications for anxiety and depression, stimulants often prescribed for ADHD, and antipsychotics for conditions like schizophrenia, among others. Frankly, when given psychotropic drugs, people no longer are in their right mind by virtue of the chemical taken as psychiatric “treatment.”

Antidepressants are commonly prescribed to treat clinical depression and other mental health disorders. They work by altering the brain’s chemistry to help regulate emotions. Between the 1950s and 1980s, tricyclic antidepressants such as Quaaludes and Valium were popular. These drugs act as sedatives and calm the nervous system.

In December of 1987, the FDA approved the first-ever SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor), Fluoxetine, which became well-known by its brand name, Prozac. SSRIs are a class of antidepressant medications that work by increasing the level of serotonin – one of the feel-good hormones – in the brain.

The U.S. has seen a significant increase in the use of SSRIs since they first entered the market. SSRIs are routinely prescribed to treat conditions such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD. While SSRIs can be effective for many, there is a growing concern regarding their potential side effects, including increased aggression or suicidal thoughts.

Many have noticed the unusual correlation between the consumption of SSRIs and completely out-of-character violently psychotic behavior, including homicides and suicides, being committed by the individual. It seems ironic to have such extreme negative outcomes for a drug that’s supposed to improve mood!

Red Flags

The connection between SSRI drugs like Prozac and the rise of mass shootings in the U.S. has been a topic of debate and speculation. Many studies, including one by the nonprofit watchdog group Institute for Safe Medication Practices, have drawn a link between antidepressants and violent behaviors. Other research shows that while some individuals may experience negative side effects, the overall majority do not engage in acts of violence.

However, teenagers are known for their sometimes unpredictable behavior. After all, their brains are still developing. The prefrontal cortex is one of the last parts to mature in the mid-to-late 20s. This area is responsible for skills like impulse control, moral behavior, and making good decisions. So, if a moody teen is given psychiatric meds that significantly alter their brain function, who knows what that teenager may end up doing?

The FDA has issued black-box warnings for SSRIs, especially for individuals under 25, noting risks of increased suicidal thoughts and behavioral changes during early treatment or dosage changes. Black-box warnings are the strictest safety warnings issued by the FDA, alerting users to serious or life-threatening risks associated with the medication.

Do SSRIs Lead to Mass Shootings?

Several studies have examined the possible connection between antidepressant use and violent behavior. The research suggests that these medications can lead to a disinhibited state in vulnerable individuals, which may contribute to acts of violence, including school shootings. At least a quarter of mass shooters in the US were clinically depressed or had other mental illnesses. Here are some of the more infamous cases:

1998 – Kip Kinkel, 15, shot his parents and murdered two classmates, injuring 22 others at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon. Kinkel was taking Prozac at the time.

1999 – Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, killed 12 classmates and one teacher, injuring 23 others during the Columbine school shooting. Harris was prescribed the antidepressant (SSRI).

2001 – Texas homeschool mom Andrea Yates, 37, drowned her five young children in the bathtub while taking Effexor (SSRI). After that, Effexor added homicidal thoughts to its list of side effects.

2012 – James Holmes, 24, killed twelve people and wounded seventy others during a screening of The Dark Night. Holmes was taking the sedative Clonazepam and the antidepressant Sertraline (SSRI). Holmes sent a notebook to his psychiatrist, claiming that the medication decreased his anxiety and he lost his fear of consequences. As the dosage became higher, his thoughts became more obsessive.

2012 – Adam Lanza, 20, murdered his mother before killing twenty students and six teachers at the school where his mother worked. Lanza’s uncle confirmed that he was taking Fanapt, a controversial antipsychotic.

2014 – Ivan Lopez, 34, shot fifteen of his fellow soldiers, killing three of them at Fort Hood. He was being treated at the VA (which notoriously overmedicates soldiers). The VA confirmed that Lopez was taking antidepressants (SSRIs) at the time of the shooting.

2015 – Dylann Roof, 21, killed nine churchgoers and injured one more in the Charleston Church Shooting. While largely attributed to racism, Roof was taking antidepressants when he committed the massacre.

2018 – Nikolas Cruz, 19, killed seventeen people at his former high school. The Florida DCF confirmed that Cruz was medicated for behavioral issues but did not confirm the prescription.

2023 – Audrey Hale, 28, who was trans and going by the name Aiden, opened fire at The Covenant School in Nashville, killing six people including 3 children. She had been under mental health intervention and drugged for twenty years.

2024 – It’s quite possible that attempted Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, may have been pushed over the edge by antidepressants.

2025 – Shane Tamura, 27, drove from Las Vegas to NYC, reportedly hell-bent on shooting up the NFL headquarters in midtown Manhattan, but he ended up on the wrong floor. He killed four people, including three innocent civilians and an NYPD officer. He was being “treated” for mental illness(es) with serious psychiatric mind-altering drugs.

“A shocking unnecessary tragedy and the powers that be, once again, fail to address the elephant in the room,” wrote AbleChild, a 501(3) C nonprofit organization established to raise public awareness regarding the psychiatric labeling and drugging of children.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. noted the disturbing connection between SSRI drugs like Prozac and the rise of common mass shootings in the U.S. during an interview with Mark Steyn back in 2023:

“With all these shootings, nobody is looking at the pharmaceutical contribution to that. Though anecdotally it appears that almost every one of these shooters were on SSRIs or some other psychiatrist drug. This is only happening in America, where all these people are taking these psychiatric drugs — we take four times as many as any other country. And there’s no time in history, we’ve always had guns in this country, Switzerland has more guns per capita than we do and you don’t see that happening…. Prior to the introduction of Prozac, those shootings were just almost not known, and now they’re an everyday event.”

The Debate

Incidence of Violence: Nearly 25 percent of our entire population is taking some type of psych medication. This would indicate that the majority of individuals taking antidepressants do not commit violent acts, even though many do.

Mental Health Issues: Individuals involved in mass shootings often suffer from untreated or inadequately managed mental health issues, which some say may contribute more significantly to their violent actions than their medication.

Media Influence: Pharmaceutical companies are among the biggest spenders on advertising, so maybe this is why the media has framed the cause of mass killings as a gun control issue (or even a violent video game issue) rather than a drug issue.

The Bigger Picture

According to mental health experts, attributing mass shootings solely to antidepressant use oversimplifies a complex issue that includes numerous social, psychological, and environmental factors. There were in fact mass shootings before SSRIs came on the market. (See the full list here.) While SSRIs may be one piece of the puzzle, mass shootings may be influenced by a complex mix of factors, including:

Mental health issues
Prescription medications
Illicit drug use
Access to weapons
Predisposition to violence
Violent video games
Past trauma
Social isolation

Conclusion

The relationship between antidepressants and violence is complex and multifaceted, reflecting broader issues related to mental health. It is crucial to separate anecdotal evidence from scientific research when discussing this topic. More studies are needed to understand the dynamics of this relationship fully and to set responsible prescribing practices, especially for teenagers. We also need more transparency and accountability at the intersection of mental health, pharmaceutical practices, and public safety.