I write this blog the day after the mass killing incident at the Marjory Stonemason Douglas High School in Florida, USA, when 17 people lost their lives. Already it is suspected that the killer, Nikolas Cruz, was taking prescribed medication, possible SSRI antidepressant drugs.
Such killings are not an uncommon tragedy in the USA. In Britain we hear only of the most serious mass shootings, the one's with the most serious loss of life. Even in America, apparently, they have become so common that not all of them are reported.
The discussion surrounding the incident has, as usual, focused on the gun control laws. Should the government reform them, restrict access to guns. Or uphold the constitutional right of Americans to carry guns for self defence. The focus is not unreasonable - the deaths, after all, are being caused by guns! The gun Cruz used was his gun, his parents made him keep it in a locked gun cabinet, but he had a key.
But is it a sufficient to focus on the gun? Ownership and possession of a gun does not mean that the killer have to use it to kill people.
We hear that Cruz had a troubled past, that he was adopted, and his mother died 3 months earlier of pneumonia. According to Vaxxter, a family friend has already told a local newspaper, the Sun Sentinel, that Cruz had been on 'medications'.
“I know she had been having some issues with them ..... He was being a problem. I know he did have some issues and he may have been taking medication. (He) did have some kind of emotional or difficulties.”
Mass shootings have often been linked to pharmaceutical drugs. I wrote about the connection back in 2011 when I first heard evidence linking mass shooters to pharmaceutical drugs, not least to SSRI antidepressant drugs. Since then I have research all the pharmaceutical drugs that are known to cause violence, and these include not only antidepressants, but Antiviral drugs, Benzodiazepine drugs, ADHD drugs, Lariam and Champix (Chantix). As Vaxxter comments:
"One thing is becoming more and more clear, we need to take a deeper look at what these SSRI medications are doing to our society. We need more awareness and more studies."
I have looked, listened and watched the mainstream media to hear of any recognition of this link between drugs and mass killings, without success. The focus remains on guns.
So what happens in a country does have rigorous gun control laws? In Britain there are not so many shootings, very few in fact. But the problem, instead, is knives and stabbings. How many of the young people involved in this violence are taking pharmaceutical drugs? Perhaps USA citizens will not be surprised that we don't know, because we don't look into it, our focus is on preventing young people getting access to knives!
The problem is that if we don't identify the CAUSES of violence, all the causes of violence, then the problem of violence can never be reduced, leave along resolved.
If it is guns, or knives, we can introduce some measure of control. If pharmaceutical drugs are to blame nothing will be done as the problem is never raised, never considered, never investigated. If it is drugs, and we don't recognise it, all we can do is to wait until the next depressed youngster is given antidepressants, and wait until he decides to kill someone - whether with a gun or a knife!
Postscript 20th February 2018
This latest School Shooting atrocity was also undertaken by young man who was on pharmaceutical drugs. The gun killed the 17 victims; the trigger was pulled by the 'side effects' the conventional medicine.
Postscript 7th May 2018
A new study from Clemson University, published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies, 2018; doi: 10.1007/s10826-018-1096-2, has found that one-third of school mass shooters were taking psychiatric drugs, and that one-third were diagnosed with a mental disorder and were taking psychiatric drugs such as antidepressants.
Such killings are not an uncommon tragedy in the USA. In Britain we hear only of the most serious mass shootings, the one's with the most serious loss of life. Even in America, apparently, they have become so common that not all of them are reported.
The discussion surrounding the incident has, as usual, focused on the gun control laws. Should the government reform them, restrict access to guns. Or uphold the constitutional right of Americans to carry guns for self defence. The focus is not unreasonable - the deaths, after all, are being caused by guns! The gun Cruz used was his gun, his parents made him keep it in a locked gun cabinet, but he had a key.
But is it a sufficient to focus on the gun? Ownership and possession of a gun does not mean that the killer have to use it to kill people.
We hear that Cruz had a troubled past, that he was adopted, and his mother died 3 months earlier of pneumonia. According to Vaxxter, a family friend has already told a local newspaper, the Sun Sentinel, that Cruz had been on 'medications'.
“I know she had been having some issues with them ..... He was being a problem. I know he did have some issues and he may have been taking medication. (He) did have some kind of emotional or difficulties.”
Mass shootings have often been linked to pharmaceutical drugs. I wrote about the connection back in 2011 when I first heard evidence linking mass shooters to pharmaceutical drugs, not least to SSRI antidepressant drugs. Since then I have research all the pharmaceutical drugs that are known to cause violence, and these include not only antidepressants, but Antiviral drugs, Benzodiazepine drugs, ADHD drugs, Lariam and Champix (Chantix). As Vaxxter comments:
"One thing is becoming more and more clear, we need to take a deeper look at what these SSRI medications are doing to our society. We need more awareness and more studies."
I have looked, listened and watched the mainstream media to hear of any recognition of this link between drugs and mass killings, without success. The focus remains on guns.
So what happens in a country does have rigorous gun control laws? In Britain there are not so many shootings, very few in fact. But the problem, instead, is knives and stabbings. How many of the young people involved in this violence are taking pharmaceutical drugs? Perhaps USA citizens will not be surprised that we don't know, because we don't look into it, our focus is on preventing young people getting access to knives!
The problem is that if we don't identify the CAUSES of violence, all the causes of violence, then the problem of violence can never be reduced, leave along resolved.
If it is guns, or knives, we can introduce some measure of control. If pharmaceutical drugs are to blame nothing will be done as the problem is never raised, never considered, never investigated. If it is drugs, and we don't recognise it, all we can do is to wait until the next depressed youngster is given antidepressants, and wait until he decides to kill someone - whether with a gun or a knife!
Postscript 20th February 2018
This latest School Shooting atrocity was also undertaken by young man who was on pharmaceutical drugs. The gun killed the 17 victims; the trigger was pulled by the 'side effects' the conventional medicine.
Postscript 7th May 2018
A new study from Clemson University, published in the Journal of Child and Family Studies, 2018; doi: 10.1007/s10826-018-1096-2, has found that one-third of school mass shooters were taking psychiatric drugs, and that one-third were diagnosed with a mental disorder and were taking psychiatric drugs such as antidepressants.
