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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| 37 Mass Shooters Who Were On Antidepressants |
| 2022-07-10 |
| [Thought Catalogue - 11 Sep 2019] Every time there’s a mass shooting in America it understandably starts up another "national conversation" about gun rights because, by definition, there would be no mass shootings without guns. But since mass shootings are perpetrated by an extremely tiny minority of gun owners, many of whom don’t even own their guns legally, perhaps it’s naïve to think that gun ownership is itself the sole or even primary cause of mass shootings. Countries such as Norway, France, and Switzerland—all of which have stricter gun laws and lower per-capita gun ownership than the United States—have far higher per-capita rates of mass shootings. When searching for other reasons for mass shootings, people blame things such as one-parent households, video games, loss of religious faith, or simply the vague sense that the nation is falling apart. Although only 8.6% of American males are on antidepressants at any given time, they seem much better represented as a percentage of mass shooters. Here are 39 mass shooters who were either on antidepressants at the time of their rampage, had abruptly quit taking their medication when they went on their spree, or had been prescribed antidepressants at some point in the past. None of this is to imply that antidepressants make certain people go on mass shootings—just as few people with guns go on shooting sprees, so do few people on antidepressants. But it is an area that is definitely worth researching. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #10 I found lots of articles when I searched that term, Woodrow. History, connection to hallucinations and schizophrenia..l It’s a standard watch-out when trying to find the right dose of seratonin-reuptake inhibitor antidepressants — we spent an unhappy night when that was the concern for trailing daughter #1 during her teen years, but she came out all right from it. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2022-07-10 23:40 |
| #9 It's called serotonin psychosis. And no one wants to talk about it. In fact just try to look it up. |
| Posted by: Woodrow 2022-07-10 22:34 |
| #8 Correlation is not causation, and as the article points out, a number of factors have been proposed as driving spree killings. More research is definitely a good idea before making claims. In the meantime, though, training and arming staff at soft targets is a good idea, and changing the tone of the reportage to discourage copycats would be helpful. I was pleased to read, in one of the articles about the most recent one, that when the then-future killer stopped in at a synagogue during services, he was closely examined by congregants, some of whom regularly carried concealed weapons by arrangement. The spokesman thought afterward that the killer was casing the place and decided to take his massacre elsewhere. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2022-07-10 21:41 |
| #7 Some I know eat them like breath mints. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2022-07-10 21:40 |
| #6 I see no reason this shouldn't be investigated, but only in regards that all aspects of the path that lead to it should. Evidence is evidence, some leads nowhere, some leads to reasons. Nothing should be written off without actual reason, no matter what it is. Now, once there is reason, all well and good. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2022-07-10 21:19 |
| #5 Well Rob, you are certainly right about one thing. There appears to be no "simple solutions." |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2022-07-10 20:10 |
| #4 Honestly, the quest to blame antidepressants for mass shootings is no different than the quest to blame guns. Both movements place the blame on inanimate objects, and so both ignore the reality that people -- damaged, sick people, but still people -- chose to commit these atrocities. But both routes let people ignore that, and to convince themselves there's a simple solution that's being blocked by bad people with evil motivations. I guess it's easier than being an adult. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2022-07-10 19:39 |
| #3 All it proves is a lot of fucked up people do a lot of fucked up things. And they were on antidepressants. So are a lot of fucked up people on them, but they don't kill people. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2022-07-10 17:50 |
| #2 Even if every single mass shooter were on anti depressants, it wouldn't prove that antidepressants cause the mass shooting. What should matter is the percentage of people taking antidepressants who commit mass shootings. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2022-07-10 14:08 |
| #1 Again, people with emotional and mental issues taking drugs that help with mental and emotional issues is as shocking as finding that a cancer patient is taking chemotherapy drugs. This crap is pushed by Scientology, and I'm disgusted every time I see a "conservative" picking it up. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2022-07-10 12:40 |