Bad journalism never looked so ugly. That is, if you can call this malicious screed journalism.
This article will make your skin crawl. It’s chock full of lies and assumptions gone awry. You will want to scream after reading it.
It’s a scare-mongering piece of hogwash that panders to card-carrying NRA members.
“Psychiatric Meds: A Prescription for Mass Murder?” makes the argument that antidepressants lead to mass violence, citing 10 shooting incidents as proof that psychotropic meds cause mass murder. And even though the article is nearly two years old, the sentiment is alarming.
The article quotes a man named Lawrence Hunter of the Social Security Institute, a non-profit organization that claims to be non-partisan, despite its 501(c) status. To quote Hunter from the article:
In virtually every mass school shooting during the past 15 years, the shooter has been on or in withdrawal from psychiatric drugs. Yet, federal and state governments continue to ignore the connection between psychiatric drugs and murderous violence, preferring instead to exploit these tragedies in an oppressive and unconstitutional power grab to snatch guns away from innocent, law-abiding people who are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution the right to own and bear arms to deter government tyranny and to use firearms in self defense against any miscreant who would do them harm.
According to this Forbes article, a U.S. Department of Justice report surveyed prison inmates and found that about 40 percent of guns used in their crimes were bought via gun shows and other outlets like the Internet that don’t require background checks. This loophole means anyone, even underage Americans, can get a firearm quickly and easily.
Hunter continues: “It is pharmaceutical makers, not law-abiding gun owners or gun manufacturers, who should be held to account for the series of ‘lone-wolf’ mass shootings that have occurred since the widespread use of psychiatric drugs began.”
From my experience, antidepressants save lives. Interviews with all of the people in my book The Eccentrics reveal that antidepressants have lifted us out of the darkness and into healthy, happy lives, removing suicidal ideation and replacing it with a sunny disposition. The Eccentrics are not violent at all. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find any cases of violence among the average patient seen by a psychiatrist.
People who take antidepressants and commit mass violence are an anomaly. The overwhelming — overwhelming — majority of medicated patients are peaceful, law-abiding citizens.
Eleven percent of Americans adults take antidepressants, according to the Center for Disease Control. That’s more than 34 million citizens. That’s a lot of people with the potential to commit violent acts, according to The New American article. However, the number of violent acts produced by this 34 million is microscopic.
But why do so many shooters tend to take antidepressants? Many people think that as long as a mentally ill person is on meds, they’ll be OK. But in reality, there’s another chunk of treatment that is vital to mental health. Therapy is key. If someone is on antidepressants without therapy, they are missing a giant piece of the puzzle. Drugs are not a panacea.
The writer points out that antidepressants are also used to treat bipolar disorder, OCD, bulimia, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and ADHD. He is exploiting these diseases to incite fear of those who are abnormal or, as the article implies, flawed.
The article notes that “Prior to the advent of antidepressants, there was little relation between depression and violent behavior.”
“One of the things in the past that we’ve known about depression is that it very, very rarely leads to violence,” says psychiatrist Peter Breggin in a Fox News report cited in the article. “It’s only been since the advent of these new SSRI drugs that we have murderers, sometimes even mass murderers, taking antidepressant drugs.”
Antidepressants aren’t the problem. Guns are the problem.
Easy access to firearms and no-waiting-list policies mean shooters can act on impulse quickly. No comprehensive background checks ensure that shooters with a criminal past can buy whatever they want at gun shows or over the Internet.
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