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Psychiatry And The Creation Of Senseless Violence

The Connection Between Psychiatric, Mind-Altering Drugs And Acts Of Random Senseless Violence & Suicide

Click here to download and read the CCHR report "Psychiatric Drugs Create Violence & Suicide — School Shootings & Other Acts of Senseless Violence."

Cases of violent crimes compiled by the International Coalition for Drug Awareness recorded more than 950 acts of violence over an eight-year period, committed by people of all ages taking SSRI antidepressants. This includes 362 murders; 45 attempted murders; over 100 acts of violence and assault, including 13 school shootings; 5 bomb threats or bombings; 24 acts of arson; 21 robberies; 3 pilots who crashed their planes; and more than 350 suicides and suicide attempts. This is more than coincidental and experts say that it warrants government investigation and intervention.

“There are many reports and studies confirming that SSRI antidepressants can cause violence, suicide, mania and other forms of psychotic and bizarre behavior,” says psychiatrist Peter Breggin in a study of SSRIs, published in International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine in 2003. The fact that drug regulatory agencies such as the FDA and Health Canada require SSRI packaging to include the warning of “anger, aggression, and violence indicates a concern that antidepressant reactions can pose a danger to others,” Dr. Breggin stated. Further, “From agitation and hostility to impulsivity and mania,” he warns, “antidepressant-induced behaviors is identical to that of PCP, methamphetamine and cocaine—drugs known to cause aggression and violence.”

In 1997, sales of psychotropic drugs topped $1.5 billion, double the figure of two years earlier. In 2000, international sales of antipsychotic drugs reached $6 billion. In 2001, antidepressant sales climbed to $12.5 billion. Today, that figure is near $20 billion. Sales of all psychotropic drugs worldwide are near $40 billion. In short, the rise in senseless violence is date-coincident with the increased use of psychiatric mind-altering drugs.

Consider the following:

By their own admission psychiatrists cannot predict or cure dangerousness or violence. The popular refrain that psychiatry can determine if a person is a danger to self or others is a complete fraud.

Click here to download and read the CCHR report "Psychiatrists cannot predict or cure violence."

Today, more than 17 million children worldwide have been prescribed psychiatric drugs so dangerous that medicine regulatory agencies in Europe, Australia and the United States have issued warnings that antidepressants, for example, can cause suicide and hostility in children and adolescents. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also issued a warning that stimulant drugs, such as Ritalin and Concerta can cause suicidal as well as violent, aggressive and psychotic behavior, and that these same drugs can cause heart attacks, stroke and sudden death.

Of these 17 million, more than 10 million children are in the United States, being prescribed addictive stimulants, antidepressants and other psychotropic (mind-altering) drugs for educational and behavioral problems. Methylphenidate (Ritalin) is an amphetamine-like drug widely prescribed to children for the contrived mental disease, “Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder” (ADHD), which the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) places in the same category as opium, morphine and cocaine.

Even Ritalin’s manufacturer warns that “frank psychotic episodes can occur” with abusive use, while the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) states that the major complication of Ritalin withdrawal is suicide. It is important to note that as far back as between 1988 and 1992 alone there were reports of more than 90 children and adolescents who had suffered suicidal or violent self-destructive behavior while on the newer antidepressant Prozac, an SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor).

However, as the following will clearly show, the connection between psychiatric drugs, violence and suicide is far from being limited to children.

DEATHS FROM SENSELESS VIOLENCE

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) has a data base of hundreds of cases of violence that span the last 15 years. The following are but a few examples from the state of Missouri of acts of violence connected to psychiatric treatment. Also included are Missouri Citizens who have passed on while in the custody or care of psychiatry.

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One of the greatest harms perpetrated by psychiatry and its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is reliance upon the DSM for the “insanity defense” in our courts. The entire gist of psychiatric testimony is that the criminal is not responsible for committing the crime. First and foremost it should be recognized that every person is responsible for his or her own actions and must be held accountable for their actions. Psychiatric treatment as currently practiced destroys individualism, moral judgment and personal responsibility.

The psychiatric profession has been gradually but steadily undermining the foundations of our culture - individual responsibility, standards of achievement, education and justice. The bottom line is that psychiatrists have been largely responsible for creating the problems they have ostensibly tried to solve.

One might ask, when a person has committed a crime after psychiatric treatment, why the treatment did not prevent the crime. It is because psychiatry is not based on science and has failed to cure insanity (despite taxpayer funding in the billions of dollars); psychiatry should no longer be accepted as an authority in this culture.

1. Al Kerth, a respected civic and community leader who was instrumental in bringing Major League Football to St. Louis, committed suicide. After receiving psychiatric treatment for many years he used a shotgun to kill himself in his downtown St. Louis office.

2.-5. Raymond Wood used a shotgun to kill his pregnant wife Tina, 31 and his children Jared, 10, Joshua, 8, Emily, 7, and Hannah, 5 in their Warrensburg home. Two other daughters, ages 3 years and 18 months, were wounded in the shootings. Wood had repeatedly been in mental institutions since 1985 before killing his family.

6. A six-year-old child from Cole County murdered his grandfather James Zbinden with a .22-caliber rifle. The boy had returned from a mental health treatment program just days before the slaying.

7. Nan Wyatt, well-known St. Louis radio personality, was shot to death by her husband Thomas Erbland, Jr. in their bedroom in Twin Oaks with a .357 Magnum while their 7-year-old son waited downstairs. Erbland had been receiving psychiatric drugs and counseling just a month prior to the murder of his wife.

8. Johnny Johnson kidnapped 6-year-old Cassandra Williamson from her home in Valley Park, attempted to rape her and then killed her with a blunt object. Johnson had been in a psychiatric facility and was released in January of that year.

9. Joshua Wolf used a rifle to shoot his grandmother, Carol Jean Lindley of Cape Girardeau County, in the head, killing her. Mrs. Lindley, who was 56, had raised Joshua. Two days later he set fire to the house to cover up the murder. Joshua had a history of psychiatric treatment.

10. A person in Cape Girardeau committed suicide after attempting to rob a pharmacy at gunpoint for the prescription psychiatric drug, Xanax. This person had just been released from another in a series of psychiatric drug rehabilitation programs before committing suicide.

11.-13. Dennis Irby shot Jeffrey Sexton of Des Peres in the head twice, killing him. Thirty-eight years earlier Irby had shot his father in the head with a shotgun in St. Louis, then beat and stabbed his mother to death. He was released from a mental hospital 5 years after the earlier murder.

14.-15. Max Parmeley of De Soto bludgeoned his mother, 62-year-old Elva J. Parmeley to death and critically injured his father, 67-year-old Clarence Parmeley. His father died later of the injuries. Max Parmeley had been receiving extensive psychiatric treatment for years.

16. Robert McGrath murdered his father Floyd McGrath by stabbing him 40 times at Floyd McGrath’s Maplewood home. He also attacked and wounded his mother. McGrath had been treated for over 25 years at area psychiatric facilities.

17.-21. Harold Lingle helped strangle to death pregnant Erin Vanderhoef and her children: Jimmy Vanderhoef, 11; Christopher Franklin, 10; and Darlene Vanderhoef, 8; in their Springfield home. Erin Vanderhoef’s unborn child was also killed. Harold Lingle had a history of psychiatric treatment.

22. Tolliver J. Simonton suffocated his 8-year-old son at their home in Marshall. Simonton, a counselor at the Marshall Middle School, had been receiving psychiatric treatment a short time before he committed the murder.

23.-24. Paul Eric Turner fatally shot his wife, wounded his father-in-law and then committed suicide all in front of his two minor children in Neelyville. He had just been released from the Southeast Missouri Mental Health Center for the second time in 2 weeks.

25. Jeremiah Johnson of Marshfield slashed his sister’s throat, killing her. He was using the psychiatric hallucinogenic drug LSD at the time.

26.-31. Joe Brinell of Springfield, Missouri, director of aviation science at College of the Ozarks, was piloting a Cessna Citation that crashed, killing six people. Toxicology tests showed the psychiatric drug Doxepin in his system. Doxepin is most commonly used to treat depression and can cause dizziness, drowsiness and blurred vision. Brinel was flying two faculty members, their spouses and a student pilot from St. Louis back to the college when the crash occurred four miles short of the runway at the Point Lookout, Mo., airport on Dec. 9, 1999. “He was on medication for depression and anxiety, the safety board said”.

32. Steven J. Lieneke of Morrison, Missouri committed suicide after being given psychiatric drugs for depression. He had sought help after becoming despondent over the 9/11 attacks on New York.

33. Sandra Menard died while under psychiatric care during her court ordered involuntary commitment at South Pointe Hospital. Ms. Menard was prescribed contra indicated drugs and died from aspiration pneumonia. Her Death Certificate listed her cause of death as heart failure yet no heart damage was recorded in the autopsy report.

34. Christopher Shanklin committed suicide while under psychiatric suicide watch during his involuntary incarceration at the psychiatric unit of South Pointe Hospital. Mr. Shanklin using obtained tools removed the barred window of the day room in the psychiatric unit and jumped four stories to his death. Though he died on the side walk it was written that he passed on in the emergency room.

35. Juanita Drey died after receiving ECT (Electro-Convulsive Therapy) which she was coerced into by her psychiatrist. Mrs. Drey was never told of the serious side effects of ECT and she eventually relented after months of pressure and intimidations from her psychiatrist. She specifically stated in her affidavit that she was tortured by her psychiatrist.

36.-37. Gary Rose and Don Williamson passed on under suspicious circumstances while involuntarily incarcerated at the state psychiatric facility at Farmington, MO. They were both under the care of the state psychiatrists.

38. George Holmes was beaten to death at the Bellefontaine Rehabilitation Center (Missouri Department of Mental Health) in St. Louis. Mr. Holmes, a mildly retarded person, made a phone call the day before he was beaten to death pleading for his life. No individual has been charged in his death.

39.-44. Five individuals, Robert Meek, Roger Evans, James Heman, Victor Silby and Daryl Strawbridge, have passed on while involuntarily incarcerated by the psychiatrists of the St. Louis Rehabilitation Center on Arsenal Street. Repeated requests for further information have not been answered.

45. Carla Weitzel of Columbia, a former student activist instrumental in getting the curators of the University of Missouri to withdraw their investments in South African apartheid companies, died after a suicide attempt. She had a history of depression, which is usually treated with psychiatric drugs.

46. David Ray Martin lured 11-year-old Selma Ducanovic from her home near Bevo Mill by telling her the house was on fire. He took her to Horseshoe Lake State Park near Granite City, Illinois and shot her in the back of the head. Martin had a history of psychiatric treatment.

47. Nora Belanger committed suicide in her room at St. Francis Hospital in Maryville, Missouri, while on suicide watch in the mental health unit. Ms. Belanger had already recently made an attempt to take her life. She had a history of psychiatric treatment for depression.

48.-51. Steven Ray Thacker murdered Polk County, Missouri resident Forrest Reed Boyd and people in two other states. Thacker had a history of psychiatric treatment and had been given the psychiatric drug lithium.

52. Mary Karch of Fort Wood killed her infant girl Elizabeth Powers Karch and attempted to suffocate her 5-year-old son Thomas with a plastic bag, then attempted suicide. She had a history of psychiatric treatment and usage of the psychiatric drug lithium.

53. Emil M. Bachman attacked police with a hunting knife, forcing them to shoot him. He died hours later at the hospital. Bachman had been under psychiatric care since the early 1960s and had been prescribed an “extensive list” of psychiatric drugs.

54. Michael Rogenhofer, 61, was found dead on the shore of Pelican Island in the Missouri River a month after he had walked away from the Pathways group home in O’Fallon. He had a history of psychiatric treatment and was on conditional release from St. Louis State Hospital.

55. Kimberly R Hennessey of Raytown shot and killed her husband with her 7-year-old son in the house. She at first claimed her son had accidentally shot his father, Terry M. Roehl, but later confessed to the shooting. Kimberly has a history of psychiatric treatment and psychiatric drug use.

56. Jose Jaime stabbed and killed his cousin Ramiro Alvarez and his cousin’s girlfriend Martha Leon in their home in the Stonegate apartments in St. Louis County. Jose had a history of psychotic episodes and psychiatric drug treatment.

57. Deborah Jean Mathews of St. Joseph committed suicide after repeated attempts to get help from the Family Guidance Center psychiatric facility. Ms. Mathews had been prescribed numerous psychiatric drugs and had stated Family Guidance Center had killer her spirit.

58. In July, 1999, James Dinardi of Columbia, Missouri, died after cutting his neck with a chainsaw to show a woman in Maine how much he cared for her. James had a history of suicide attempts, from which we can only surmise that he also had a history of psychiatric treatment.

59. Robert Lee Proud plead guilty to the first degree murder of his three-year-old niece Ciarra Resinger near Richwoods, Missouri. Robert, who was taking psychiatric drugs for a hyperactive condition, said “She was making me angry and I couldn’t take it anymore” and “I went up to the cliff and I just threw her off there.”

60. Roberta Burrell of Cape Girardeau stabbed her mother, Opal Baugus, at least 41 times with a butcher knife, killing her. Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle stated Roberta had a 3-inch-thick file with mental health centers.

61. Leonardo Drisdel, a WGNU radio host in St. Louis, bludgeoned Cassandra Kovack to death in her apartment with his bare hands. Drisdel had a history of psychiatric treatment and had been prescribed 3 different psychiatric drugs.

62. Erin Mace, a senior at Lindbergh high school was abducted, raped and then strangled by the refused lover Alex Stirlen. Stirlen admitted that he stole a bottle of his friend’s attention deficit disorder medicine and spent a week at St. Anthony’s Hyland Behavioral Center. From an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch 10/5/2005, "Stirlen said he received little support after a suicide attempt nine months ago. He had taken a bottle of a friend's attention deficit disorder medicine. Afterward he spent a week at St. Anthony's Hyland Behavioral Health Center and saw a psychologist."

63. In 1994 Matt McBride stabbed his parents to death in Glendale, Missouri, hours after being released from a mental hospital. After Matt was released from St. Anthony’s and murdered his parents, his psychiatrist went on to commit suicide. His brother Mark was instrumental in passage of the McBride Bill, signed into legislation by Governor Mel Carnahan (1996). The bill made involuntary commitment easier, further eroding our human rights.

64.-65. Jason Friske shot and killed Sergeant Robert G. Kimberling of the Missouri State Highway Patrol when the officer stopped him for not paying for $24.69 of fuel at a truck stop. Friske, who was taking the psychiatric drug Prozac, then killed himself.

66. Kent (Kenny) Gollaher stabbed and killed Steve Stricklin, assaulted his girlfriend’s mother and then held his girlfriend hostage for 5 hours. Gollaher had given a sample of the psychiatric drug Paxil by his doctor. Gollaher, 35, of Hannibal, MO was sentenced to 27 years in prison after pleading guilty to second degree murder and armed criminal action for the Oct. 19, 2003 death of Steve Stricklin.

67.-68. Lloyd Robert Jeffress walked into a Roman Catholic abbey in Conception, Missouri and shot and killed Rev. Philip Schuster, 85, of Pilot Grove, and Brother Damian Larson, 64, of Wichita, Kansas and wounded 2 other monks. Police found antidepression medication in Jeffress’ home.

69. Rahaman M. Muhammad murdered Michael Singh, 60, in the Biggs Forensic Unit of Fulton State Hospital which is run by the Missouri Department of Mental Health. Court papers indicated that Muhammad acknowledged killing Singh "to commit an offense that would get him out of the state hospital and into police custody."

70. Ms. Peggy Ahland Smith passed on from an apparent overdose of the psychiatric drug Zyprexa while in the custody of the Missouri Department of Mental Health in Farmington.

71. Rutherford ‘Rudy’ Wallace died in a hospital after being scalded (third degree burns) in his bath by two psychiatric nurses at North West Habilitation Center. No one has been charged in this crime.

72. Michael Pallme passed on at North West Habilitation Center due to ingesting an ink pen and other non-food items that perforated his bowel. The Dept of Mental Health conducted an investigation and found no one at fault for failure to prevent the tragedy.

73. Bob Richards, a television weatherman on Channel 5, crashed his aircraft into the runway at Chesterfield airport committing suicide. He was seeing a psychiatric counselor prior to his death.

74. Carol Bledsoe, the secretary of Christ Cathedral Church, was murdered by Michael Davis , an emotionally disturbed man who had been under the care of various psychiatrists in the years preceding the murder.

75. Mary P. Wade was killed by her daughter Ellen Wade. Ellen Wade was diagnosed as having schizophrenia and was a psychiatric patient of four psychiatrists who treated her for years prior to the murder.

76. Dennis Heberlie of St. Genevieve was shot and killed by a local police office who was attempting to arrest him. He was previously diagnosed and treated for schizophrenia.

77.–81. Herbert Chalmers, who suffered bouts of depression often treated with psychiatric drugs, raped Sandra Stamps, then going on a shooting spree killed Carol Moore, Sylvia Haynes, Cleo Finninger, Christine Politte and wounded Patricia Meier in a parking lot at his place of employment, then committed suicide.

82. Brandon Shackleford who suffered from Cerebral Palsy died from asphyxiation after having been ignored by the two psychiatric attendants who were supposed to be watching him. Shackelford’s head became wedged between his mattress and his bed's side rails while his attendants were sleeping.

83. Unidentified woman, 35; mentally retarded with developmental disorder, at State-run Marshall Habilitation Center, Marshall, Missouri, Sept. 26, 2005; What happened: Woman began panting, her abdomen became swollen and hard, she became unsteady on her feet and fell in a bathroom; Cause of death: Heart attack; State's finding: Worker waited too long to seek emergency treatment; Action taken: Reminded staff of policy regarding medical emergencies. Worker suspended for five days without pay.

84. Unidentified man, 36; mentally retarded and hearing impaired, at privately run Woodhaven, Columbia, Missouri; Died March 5, 2005; What happened: Resident collapsed in a bathroom; Cause of death: Prescription drug overdose; State's finding: Failure to monitor medications, get required lab work, schedule physical, document fever; Action taken: Provider required to discuss importance of documenting physical changes, ensure guidelines on medication are followed, question doctors about treatment, report medication errors, ensure each doctor knows what other medications have been prescribed

85. Unidentified boy, 14; mentally retarded and blind with cerebral palsy; Privately run The Gingerbread House Fairgrounds, Rolla, Missouri; Died Feb. 12, 2005; What happened: Resident was suffering from pneumonia and worker failed to check on him every 15 minutes as ordered; Official cause of death: Viral pneumonia; State's finding: Worker waited 15 minutes to call 911 and failed to perform CPR after assuming boy was not to be resuscitated; Action taken: Worker fired and placed on banned workers list; another employee disciplined for initialing treatments that she did not do; staff trained on following physician orders on treatment.

86. Unidentified woman, 56; mentally retarded with cerebral palsy and vision loss; Privately run Heartland Residential Group Home, Smithville, Missouri; Died Nov. 19, 2004; What happened: Woman congested and unable to eat. She died on her way to the hospital in the group home's van. A piece of black plastic was found in her stomach.; Cause of death: Pneumonia; State's finding: Failure to inform family that resident was sick, call 911 or begin CPR.; Action taken: Placed worker on the banned workers list.

87. Unidentified man, 67; mentally retarded with feeding tube; Privately run Sunset Hills Health & Rehab, St. Louis County; Died Nov. 5, 2004; What happened: Found unresponsive in his room, dehydrated with a severe infection.; Cause of death: Complications from septic shock (severe infection in bloodstream). State's finding: Failure to call 911 or properly monitor man, letting him become dehydrated; Action taken: State stopped sending residents to Sunset Hills.

88. Unidentified man, 47; autistic; Privately run Arc of the Ozarks Plymouth, Monett, Missouri; Died June 4, 2004; What happened: Resident, who was having respiratory problems, found with a low pulse on the living room couch. Official cause of death: Pneumonia; State's finding: Failure to start CPR. Action taken: Placed worker on the banned workers list.

89. Unidentified boy, 15; mentally retarded, quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, seizure disorder and reactive attachment disorder; Privately run Children's Home Society, Brentwood, Missouri; Died June 1, 2004; What happened: An untrained worker tried to clear resident's gastric tube while resident was in distress. Official cause of death: Complications from gastroenteric necrosis; State's finding: Found worker to be neglectful; Action taken: None.

90. Unidentified woman, 50; blind, deaf and mentally retarded with a seizure disorder, schizoaffective disorder, depression, borderline personality disorder and organic behavioral syndrome; Privately run Lee House, Kirkwood, Mo.; Died May 13, 2004; What happened: A worker gave resident, who had been experiencing seizures, bread without liquid. The resident choked and died on the kitchen floor. Cause of death: Accidental choking; State's finding: Failure to try to clear the bread from her mouth or follow procedures to dislodge the food from her airway; Action taken: Placed worker on the banned workers list.

91. Unidentified man, 64; Mentally retarded with a head injury, a seizure disorder and hardening of the arteries. Privately run Gateway Homes Des Peres, Rock Hill, Missouri; Died Feb. 8, 2004; What happened: Resident's blood pressure was high and he had passed out twice. Investigators later learned he missed several doctors appointments.; Cause of death: Heart blockage and heart attack; State's finding: Failure to call ambulance to immediately take resident to emergency room; Action taken: Placed worker on the banned workers list

92. Unidentified man, 61; mentally retarded man able to eat only pureed food; Privately run Skills Unlimited, El Dorado, Missouri; Died Sept. 18, 2003; What happened: Worker cut up a hot dog and gave it to the resident, who then went outside; Cause of death: Aspiration pneumonia from; choking on food; State's finding: Failure to ensure doctors orders were followed. One worker failed to follow special diet and supervise resident during mealtime. Another worker failed to intervene when worker saw that wrong diet was being given. Action taken: Placed one worker on the banned workers list.

93. Unidentified man, 19; mentally retarded with an impulse control disorder, major depression, asthma, oppositional defiant disorder and seizures in remission; Privately run Norviels Mini Ranch, Ellsinore, Missouri; Died July 10, 2003; What happened: Resident not properly supervised and drowned in Clearwater Lake. He was not wearing a life jacket when he got into 20 feet deep water 70 feet from shore. He yelled three times for help, but disappeared before anyone could get to him. Cause of death: Drowning; State's finding: Failure to provide adequate supervision; Action taken: Placed home's owner on banned workers list.

94. Unidentified man, 23; autistic with permanent brain damage, known to drink chemicals; Privately run Baker Home, Ashland, Missouri; Died July 7, 2003; What happened: Workers took resident to garage sale where he apparently drank turpentine. Cause of death: Possible heart attack or aspiration pneumonia; State's finding: Failure to seek emergency care after resident vomited substance that smelled of turpentine, failure to report prior incidents of swallowing chemicals, failure to have plan to keep this from happening, failure to supervise. Action taken: Placed home's owner on banned workers list.

95. Unidentified man, 74; schizophrenic with acid reflux disease, Parkinson's disease and history of stroke, choking, difficulty swallowing and unable to eat or drink; Privately run Bernard Care Center, St. Louis; Died Oct. 22, 2002; What happened: Man found unresponsive in room during mealtime; Cause of death: Choked on food. State's finding: Failure to provide one-on-one supervision during mealtime as required. Action taken: Placed worker on banned worker list.

96. Gary Oheim, 40; mentally retarded and wheelchair bound with cerebral palsy and seizure disorder; Privately run Turtle Creek Nursing Home, Bolivar, Missouri; Died Jan. 30, 2002. What happened: Workers ignored bedsores for months before Oheim was sent to a hospital. Cause of death: Fluid in the lungs caused by deep and infected bedsores. State's finding: Multiple charges of neglect for improper care of skin deterioration and failure to fill prescription. Staff destroyed incident reports about bedsores. Action taken: The state placed regional caseworker on six months probation. Turtle Creek manager Mary Collura and four aides pleaded guilty to criminal charges. Collura was sentenced in April to five years in prison. Group home closed.

97. Unidentified man, 47; mentally retarded with depression, anxiety disorder, history of seizures and multiple medical problems; State-run Bellefontaine Habilitation Center, Bellefontaine Neighbors, Missouri; Died July 7, 2001; What happened: Workers did not seek medical help or check vital signs for resident found unresponsive on his bedroom floor. Cause of death: Acute necrotizing pancreatitis or sudden inflammation of the pancreas; State's finding: Failure to provide medical attention as prescribed; Action taken: Staff physician suspended without pay for five days; retraining for staff on monitoring vital signs and CPR.

98. Unidentified woman, 50; mentally retarded with bipolar disorder, diabetes, hypertension and history of choking; State-run Bellefontaine Habilitation Center, Bellefontaine Neighbors, Missouri; Died July 4, 2001; What happened: Choked to death on food when she was on choking ; precautions; Cause of death: Choked to death; State's finding: Failure to keep constant watch on woman; Action taken: Worker suspended five days without pay; employees trained on choking policy.

99. Unidentified boy, 12; autistic with intermittent explosive disorder; Privately run Nova Center, Kansas City, Missouri; Died March 4, 2001; What happened: Resident found in bedroom unresponsive and blue; apparently choked on donut. Cause of death: Irregular heartbeat; apparently choked on food; State's finding: Only one worker on duty when two were required. The sole worker's CPR certification had expired. Action taken: Failure to meet standards of care. Correction plan to assure up-to-date CPR training and that enough workers were caring for residents.

100. Unidentified man, 62; mentally retarded with epilepsy and condition that caused him to swallow things; Privately run Community Health Plus Park, Park Hills, Mo.; Died Jan. 1, 2001; What happened: Resident found unconscious; Cause of death: Seizure and cardiac arrest; State's finding: Failure to immediately call 911 or initiate CPR; Action taken: Worker fired and placed on banned worker list.

101. Unidentified woman, 23; mentally retarded with seizures, depression and history of falls; Privately run Hillside Group Home, Bolivar, Mo.; Died Feb. 16, 2000; What happened: Worker failed to watch the woman in a bathtub; Official cause of death: Drowning due to seizure. State's finding: Failure to check on woman while she was bathing, despite history of seizures; Action taken: Required an action plan to identify ways to prevent drowning accidents.

102.–103. Deborah Green was taking Prozac in 1996 and killed her two children Tim and Kelly Green by setting her house on fire. She is serving life in prison.

104.-105. Luther Casteel was prescribed the psychiatric drug Zoloft and on the 14th of April 2001 after an altercation with an Elgin, MO bar owner he returned and murdered two people and injured 16 others.

106. Richard Mueller drowned his wife, Kimberly Mueller, 37, on July 6, 1997, in a bathtub at their home in Edwardsville, Missouri. His doctor had prescribed Prozac to treat his depression and general anxiety.

107. A 15-year-old Cole County Missouri teenager, Alyssa Bustamante, was charged with killing a 9-year-old neighbor, Elizabeth Olten. Authorities say that on October 21, 2009 Bustamante strangled, stabbed and cut the throat of Elizabeth because she wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone. Newspaper accounts said that Bustamante had been receiving mental health treatment and Prozac for depression.

108. A 16-year-old girl at state-operated Hawthorn Children’s Psychiatric Hospital in St. Louis was discovered choking on a plastic medicine cup on December 2, 2009. She was declared dead at St. Louis Children's Hospital.

109. Eric R. Jines of Lebanon, Illinois, diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, died December 6, 2008 from a poly-pharmacy overdose including anti-anxiety drug Xanax and other antidepressants. He had also abused heroin, pain-killers and steroids. [Belleville News-Democrat, 12/6/2009]]

110. On August 31, 2011 25-year-old Yokeia Smith of East St. Louis, Illinois shot and killed two of her children. In a jailhouse letter to the St. Clair County Circuit Judge she wrote that she was taking medication for bipolar disorder, depression and schizophrenia. Her relatives said she was taking anti–depression drugs at the time. She said she was hearing voices and, “I had been drinking and popped an X–pill. I had got scared and lost it. Everything went black. When I came to, I was sitting on the couch with a gun to my head, trying to kill myself.” [Information from the Mexico Ledger, 22 November 2011, “Mom accused in kids’ shotgun deaths ‘truly sorry’”.]

111. On September 26, 2014 18-year-old Michael Worth of St. Louis drove to a parking garage, locked himself in his car and turned on the engine. The next morning he was found dead with the car still running. He had seen different psychologists and psychiatrists for years. His mother Amy said, "Over the years, Michael must have tried 20 different anxiety and antidepressant medications and different combinations." [St. Louis Jewish Light, March 11, 2015]

112. Police in Kirksville, Missouri are stumped after a succession of four suicides but finding no overarching explanation. One, Alex Mullins, a 21-year-old student at Truman State University and a member of Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity, committed suicide August 7, 2016. "He had been having a difficult time for a few months before his death, but his mother said he bounced back from that and had a great summer. Mullins saw a counselor a few times and had taken medication for a few weeks to ease his depression. His mother never expected he would harm himself."

CONCLUSION

These are horror stories all which happened in the state of Missouri. On the surface, the idea of psychiatric treatment, tranquilizers or antidepressants creating hostility and violence may not make sense. After all, they are supposed to make people better, calm and quiet. But the reality is that they can and do create such adverse effects. This is called “Drug Induced Psychosis.”

The scientific evidence, only a small part of which is presented above, is overwhelming. Psychiatric treatments such as drugs, electric shock and involuntary commitment are supposed to assist people who need help, not kill them. Too often, delinquency, suicide and violence have been falsely attributed to a child’s “mental illness,” when, in fact, the very methods used to “treat” such “illness” are the cause of the problem.

In addressing the rise in senseless violence in schools and in society, the role of psychiatric drugs must be investigated.

Get the Facts. Fight Back.

Click here to download and read the CCHR report "Psychiatric Drugs Create Violence & Suicide — School Shootings & Other Acts of Senseless Violence."