The following is an excerpt from the home
page of SSRI Stories:
A
public health problem of epidemic proportions
The Physicians' Desk Reference lists the following adverse reactions
(side effects) to antidepressants among a host of other physical and
neuropsychiatric effects: manic reaction (mania), emotional lability (or
instability), abnormal thinking, alcohol abuse, hallucinations,
hostility, lack of emotion, paranoid reaction, amnesia, confusion,
agitation, delirum, delusions, hysteria, psychosis, sleep disorders,
abnormal dreams, and discontinuation (withdrawal) syndrome. Adverse
reactions are especially likely when starting or discontinuing the drug,
increasing or lowering the dose or when switching from one SSRI to
another SSRI. Adverse reactions are often diagnosed as bipolar disorder
when the symptoms could be entirely iatrogenic (treatment induced).
Withdrawal, especially abrupt withdrawal, from any of these medications
can also cause severe neuropsychiatric and physical symptoms. It is
important to withdraw extremely slowly from these drugs, usually over a
period of a year or more, under the supervision of a qualified and
experienced specialist.
In addition to the adverse reactions listed in the Physicians' Desk
Reference, the FDA published a Public Health Advisory on March 22, 2004
which states (in part): "Anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia,
irritability, hostility, impulsivity, akathisia (severe restlessness),
hypomania, and mania have been reported in adult and pediatric patients
being treated with antidepressants for major depressive disorder as well
as for other indications, both psychiatric and nonpsychiatric." (Click
Links button at bottom of this page for a direct link to this FDA
Warning.)
Most of the stories on this site describe events which occurred after
the year 2000. The increase in online news material and the efficiency
of search engines has greatly increased the ability to track stories.
Even these 1800+ documented stories only represent the tip of an iceberg
since most stories do not make it into the media. There are 34 cases of
bizarre behavior, 28 school shootings/incidents, 46 road rage tragedies,
9 air rage incidents, over 380 murders, over 170 murder-suicides and
other acts of violence including workplace violence on this site.
There is a grave concern among
advocates that adverse reactions are greatly underestimated by the
public, the medical profession and the regulatory authorities. Each of
these stories in our list can be interpreted as an adverse reaction and
in most cases we have highlighted the portion of the article that refers
to evidence of bizarre behavioral change consistent with drug reaction.
In some stories causation is acknowledged and the juxtaposition of these
stories with those where it goes unrecognized as well as the repetition
of themes and circumstances is chilling. If indeed medications played a
significant role in all these tragedies, then this is a public health
problem of epidemic proportions on a global scale.
