Mass Media's influence in political campaigning and other disgusting acts

[vonbach]

Just google it it even made that trash rag the huffington post.
This has been known for years. They even finally started putting
warning labels on them.

http://www.sott.net/article/279716-Nearly-every-mass-shooting-in-the-last-20-years-shares-one-thing-in-common-and-it-isnt-weapons

Multiple credible scientific studies going back more then a decade, as well as internal documents from certain pharmaceutical companies that suppressed the information show that SSRI drugs ( Selective Serotonin Re-Uptake Inhibitors ) have well known, but unreported side effects, including but not limited to suicide and other violent behavior. One need only Google relevant key words or phrases to see for themselves. www.ssristories.com is one popular site that has documented over 4500 " Mainstream Media " reported cases from around the World of aberrant or violent behavior by those taking these powerful drugs...

...On to the list of mass shooters and the stark link to psychotropic drugs:

Eric Harris, age 17 (first on Zoloft then Luvox) and Dylan Klebold, aged 18 (Columbine school shooting in Littleton, Colorado), killed 12 students and 1 teacher, and wounded 23 others, before killing themselves. Klebold's medical records have never been made available to the public.

Jeff Weise, age 16, had been prescribed 60 mg/day of Prozac (three times the average starting dose for adults!) when he shot his grandfather, his grandfather's girlfriend and many fellow students at Red Lake, Minnesota. He then shot himself. 10 dead, 12 wounded.

Cory Baadsgaard, age 16, Wahluke (Washington state) High School, was on Paxil (which caused him to have hallucinations) when he took a rifle to his high school and held 23 classmates hostage. He has no memory of the event.

Chris Fetters, age 13, killed his favorite aunt while taking Prozac.

Christopher Pittman, age 12, murdered both his grandparents while taking Zoloft.

Mathew Miller, age 13, hanged himself in his bedroom closet after taking Zoloft for 6 days.

Kip Kinkel, age 15, (on Prozac and Ritalin) shot his parents while they slept then went to school and opened fire killing 2 classmates and injuring 22 shortly after beginning Prozac treatment.

Luke Woodham, age 16 (Prozac) killed his mother and then killed two students, wounding six others.

A boy in Pocatello, ID (Zoloft) in 1998 had a Zoloft-induced seizure that caused an armed stand off at his school.

Michael Carneal (Ritalin), age 14, opened fire on students at a high school prayer meeting in West Paducah, Kentucky. Three teenagers were killed, five others were wounded..

A young man in Huntsville, Alabama (Ritalin) went psychotic chopping up his parents with an ax and also killing one sibling and almost murdering another.

Andrew Golden, age 11, (Ritalin) and Mitchell Johnson, aged 14, (Ritalin) shot 15 people, killing four students, one teacher, and wounding 10 others.

TJ Solomon, age 15, (Ritalin) high school student in Conyers, Georgia opened fire on and wounded six of his class mates.

Rod Mathews, age 14, (Ritalin) beat a classmate to death with a bat.

James Wilson, age 19, (various psychiatric drugs) from Breenwood, South Carolina, took a .22 caliber revolver into an elementary school killing two young girls, and wounding seven other children and two teachers.

Elizabeth Bush, age 13, (Paxil) was responsible for a school shooting in Pennsylvania.

Jason Hoffman (Effexor and Celexa) - school shooting in El Cajon, California.

Jarred Viktor, age 15, (Paxil), after five days on Paxil he stabbed his grandmother 61 times.

[vonbach]

Here have some more.

http://ssristories.org/ssris/

Other side effects

Side effects which are less common, but not rare, include:

an increase in violent thoughts and impulses,  suicidal ideation, mania, loss of judgment,  strange or terrifying dreams,  reduced inhibition, craving for alcohol, a tendency to indulge in reckless behavior, thought disturbance or full-blown psychosis, and increased propensity to drug and alcohol addiction.

Psychotropic drugs, including SSRIs, when taken for a long time, predispose people to other addictions. This is particularly true with children who are started on these drugs at a young age and become bipolar in adolescence as a consequence.  Although pharmaceutical companies have denied it for years, SSRIs and other psychotropic drugs create dependency.   When people get hooked on street drugs, we call it addiction and disapprove.  When people get hooked on drugs prescribed by their doctors, and suffer terrible symptoms when they try to stop taking them, it is interpreted as evidence that they have a chronic illness.  Their withdrawal symptoms are mischaracterized as “relapse” and proof that they need the drug to stay well.

Most alarming of all, antidepressants can cause depression and suicidality. Despite having been forced to issue black box warnings in the USA, several manufacturers fudge this one. For example, the Celexa, June, 2012 monograph cautions that:

“Depression is associated with an increased risk of suicidal thoughts, self-harm and suicide (suicide-related events). This risk persists until significant remission occurs. As improvement may not occur during the first few weeks or more of treatment, patients should be closely monitored until such improvement occurs. It is general clinical experience that the risk of suicide may increase in the early stages of recovery.”

In other words, Lundbeck is implying that Celexa makes people feel better, but until this positive effect kicks in, their depression may cause suicidality.  According to their spin, it is not the drug but depression that is the problem.  However, there is unequivocal evidence [1] that SSRI drugs can cause people who were never depressed and never had a suicidal thought, to become suicidal after taking these medications.   People need to understand this, especially parents whose teenagers are among the many thousands whose GPs are offering them SSRIs to help them deal with boyfriend or exam problems.

Similarly, SSRIs cause people to become violent.  Studies show that the SSRI & SNRI antidepressants are among the worst drugs for causing violence (see Trends and Data).

Long-term use of antidepressants causes permanent changes to people’s mood and reactions.  Suicide and violence are the most alarming side effects, however small the percent of affected persons may be.  However, depression and bi-polar, which are more common, are the most offensive side effects.  People take these drugs in the belief and hope that the medication will make them feel better, only to have their long term mental health undermined by this decision.   It seems that, despite books like Anatomy of an Epidemic few physicians are aware of this.  Robert Whitaker pointed this out in his 2010 book, and more recently Danish internist Peter Gotzsche bluntly stated:

“Bipolar illness rose 35-fold in 20 years in the United States.  It’s not only the loose criteria (for diagnosis) that cause this disaster; both SSRIs and ADHD drugs cause bipolar illness…WHO studies have shown that patients fare much better in areas of the world where psychotropic drugs are little used…People may get terrible symptoms when they try to stop (taking the drugs), both symptoms that resemble the disease and may others that they have never experienced before.”[2]

 

[1] Emergence of antidepressant induced suicidality, David Healy, Primary Care Psychiatry, 2000 6:23–28 © LibraPharm Limited

[2] Deadly Medicines and Organized Crime, Psychiatry, the Drug Industry’s Paradise, Dr Peter Gotzsche, Radclofee Publishing, 2013, P196, P199

Trends and data

In 2011, the American National Department of Health and Human Services found that eleven percent of Americans aged 12 years and over were taking antidepressant medication. They found that more than 60% of Americans taking antidepressant medication had been taking it for 2 years or longer, with 14% having taken the medication for 10 years or more.  The most astounding finding was that between the time periods 1988–1994 and 2005–2008 – that is, within less than 10 years – the rate of antidepressant use in the United States among all age groups increased nearly 400%.

In the E.U., antidepressant use has also experienced huge growth since the turn of the century.

In 1955, in the USA, approximately one in 13,000 people was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and those who were diagnosed had a 50% chance of recovering without relapse.  In 1985, researchers found that in Switzerland, the incidence of bipolar disorder had significantly increased since the introduction of antidepressants.   More recently, a meta-analysis of 35 studies involving randomized control trials found that 12.5 % of subjects treated with antidepressants experienced some form of mania.   In 2013, the American National Institute of Mental Health warns that: “Bipolar disorder affects approximately 5.7 million American adults, or about 2.6 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year.”

Note:  Specific reference sources are not listed here.   Please contact us if you would like to know the source of any of the information cited above.

PLOS 2010 study on drugs and biolence

On December 15, 2010, PLoS Medicine released a study which showed that, in regard to prescription medications associated with reports of violence towards others, the FDA had received the most reports of violence from the SSRI & SNRI antidepressants (except for Chantix, the smoking cessation drug.) The study listed Prozac as the number 2 drug for violence, and Paxil as number 3.

Antidepressants have been recognized as potential inducers of mania and psychosis since their introduction in the 1950s.  Klein and Fink (1) described psychosis as an adverse effect of the older tricyclic antidepressant imipramine. Since the introduction of Prozac in December, 1987, there has been a massive increase in the number of people taking antidepressants. Preda and Bowers 2 reported that over 200,000 people a year in the U.S. enter a hospital with antidepressant-associated mania and/or psychosis. The subsequent harm from this prescribing can be seen in these 5000+ stories.

According to an August, 2013  New York Times article, “fully 1 in 5 Americans take at least one psychiatric medication.”

An absence of controlled scientific evidence

In the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Volume 14, Number 1, Spring 2009, there is a journal article by Joel M. Kauffman, Ph.D., which is titled:  Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) Drugs:  More Risk Than Benefits?”   In reference to SSRIStories.com, Dr. Kaufmann made the following statement:  “Since no clinical trial involving multiple homicides is ever likely to be run, no firmer evidence is likely to be found.  Dr. David Healy noted that much of the evidence for suicide and murder came from the efforts of journalists and lawyers.

To read the full article go to the Links page on this site (click the button at the bottom of this page).

A public health problem of epidemic proportions

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.

1  Klein DF, Fink M.  Psychiatric Reaction Patterns to Imipramine.  Am Journal Psychiatry 1962; 119: 432-438.

2 Preda and Bowers. Antidepressant-Associated Mania and Psychosis Resulting in Psychiatric Admissions. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 2001: 62: 30-333 National Institute of Mental Health:  Health Magazine 2010.

4Thomas J. Moore, Joseph Glenmullen, Curt D. Furberg.  Prescription Drugs Associated With Reports of Violence Toward Others.   PLoS Medicine: December 15, 2010.

[Buster's Uncle]

Thank you sir!  May I have another!?



Not the first time something like this has come out about antidepressants.  I recall some bad incident reports on Prozac before the doctors figured out what they were doing, too.

[vonbach]

Since we're on a media tangent...

The dominant story today is about a former tv reporter who went Go Pro/social media to kill the former coworkers whom he held responsible for getting him fired, while they were interviewing somebody on tv.

It is unclear whose initials he is referring to. He continues, “As for Dylann Roof? You (deleted)! You want a race war (deleted)? BRING IT THEN YOU WHITE …(deleted)!!!”

A gay Black man says he wants to start a race war. Interesting, theres been one going on for years.
Its just that whites haven't been fighting back. The media almost never reports stories where blacks
kill whites its called "hush crime." This case seems to be the exception.

[Rusty Edge]

Since I haven't said it before, Thanks vonbach !

There are issues with the site, but here's the edited gist.
https://healthland.time.com/2011/01/07/top-ten-legal-drugs-linked-to-violence/



A new study from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices published in the journal PloS One and based on data from the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System has identified 31 drugs that are disproportionately linked with reports of violent behavior towards others.

Nonetheless, when one particular drug in a class of nonaddictive drugs used to treat the same problem stands out, that suggests caution: unless the drug is being used to treat radically different groups of people, that drug may actually be the problem. Researchers calculated a ratio of risk for each drug compared to the others in the database, adjusting for various relevant factors that could create misleading comparisons.  Here are the top ten offenders:


10. Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) An antidepressant which affects both serotonin and noradrenaline, this drug is 7.9 times more likely to be associated with violence than other drugs.

 9. Venlafaxine (Effexor) A drug related to Pristiq in the same class of antidepressants, both are also used to treat anxiety disorders. Effexor is 8.3 times more likely than other drugs to be related to violent behavior. (More on Time.com: Adderall May Not Make You Smarter, But It Makes You Think You Are)


8. Fluvoxamine (Luvox) An antidepressant that affects serotonin (SSRI), Luvox is 8.4 times more likely than other medications to be linked with violence

7. Triazolam (Halcion) A benzodiazepine which can be addictive, used to treat insomnia. Halcion is 8.7 times more likely to be linked with violence than other drugs, according to the study.

6) Atomoxetine (Strattera) Used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Strattera affects the neurotransmitter noradrenaline and is 9 times more likely to be linked with violence compared to the average medication.

5) Mefoquine (Lariam) A treatment for malaria, Lariam has long been linked with reports of bizarre behavior. It is 9.5 times more likely to be linked with violence than other drugs.

4) Amphetamines: (Various) Amphetamines are used to treat ADHD and affect the brain’s dopamine and noradrenaline systems. They are 9.6 times more likely to be linked to violence, compared to other drugs.

3) Paroxetine (Paxil) An SSRI antidepressant, Paxil is also linked with more severe withdrawal symptoms and a greater risk of birth defects compared to other medications in that class. It is 10.3 times more likely to be linked with violence compared to other drugs. (More on Time.com: Healthland’s Guide to Life 2011)


2) Fluoxetine (Prozac) The first well-known SSRI antidepressant, Prozac is 10.9 times more likely to be linked with violence in comparison with other medications.

1) Varenicline (Chantix) The anti-smoking medication Chantix affects the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, which helps reduce craving for smoking. Unfortunately, it’s 18 times more likely to be linked with violence compared to other drugs — by comparison, that number for Xyban is 3.9 and just 1.9 for nicotine replacement. Because Chantix is slightly superior in terms of quit rates in comparison to other drugs, it shouldn’t necessarily be ruled out as an option for those trying to quit, however.

[Rusty Edge]

Perhaps this Media tangent deserves it's own topic.

Some excerpts from From Psychology Today-
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/obsessively-yours/201212/newtown-shootings-caution-about-violence-and-ssris

It’s been well known that adolescents and young people have an increased risk of suicide when they begin to take SSRIs. But what we may forget is that suicide is an impulsive behavior that is turned against oneself. But impulses, particularly violent ones, can be turned against others.

An accompanying effect of SSRI’s is the dulling of feelings(link is external) that cause depression—and one of the main feelings in this line is empathy. If empathy is dulled and violent impulses increase when young people are on SSRI’s, then certainly that is a recipe for causing harm to others.

It’s not that SSRI’s are not an important part of a mental-health practitioner’s arsenal against mental illness—they are. But it is important to understand that they are not panaceas and may even contribute to more violence. It is possible that the SSRI’s were not properly prescribed and therefore were not working. But we also have to entertain the idea that those drugs may have directly or indirectly contributed to the violence that resulted.

After all, drugs are drugs—with effects and side effects. We need to know more about how these drugs work before we decide that the best policy is to get as many trouble adolescents on them as possible. The physician’s motto: “Do no harm” is more relevant than ever in this scenario.

[Buster's Uncle]

Good idea, Rusty.  Shall I split, or would you like to just start a thread and we take it from here?

Since we're on a media tangent...

The dominant story today is about a former tv reporter who went Go Pro/social media to kill the former coworkers whom he held responsible for getting him fired, while they were interviewing somebody on tv.

It is unclear whose initials he is referring to. He continues, “As for Dylann Roof? You (deleted)! You want a race war (deleted)? BRING IT THEN YOU WHITE …(deleted)!!!”

A gay Black man says he wants to start a race war. Interesting, theres been one going on for years.
Its just that whites haven't been fighting back. The media almost never reports stories where blacks
kill whites its called "hush crime." This case seems to be the exception.

...This is not a profitable line of discussion...

[Lorizael]

If you go back a little further in time, you'll find that a lot of spree killers were on tricyclics. Hmm, I wonder why that might be...

[Buster's Uncle]

Gosh, depressed guy; you have stumped me, another depressed guy.

[vonbach]

...This is not a profitable line of discussion...

It is if you care about the truth. This is the type of thing that happens all the time in Rhodesia and
South Africa. Its the exact same rhetoric. We have an entire generation of blacks that thinks it ok
to kill whites because of "racism." Whats racist? Thats simple its called being white.

[Buster's Uncle]

Really man; race is a third rail.  You don't want to keep this talk up.

[Lorizael]

We have an entire generation of blacks that [possesses a trait other than black skin]...

Hyperbole makes me so angry I could make sweeping generalizations and demeaning accusations about your ancestry, personal history, and financial success.

More seriously, yes, obviously you don't really mean an entire generation something something, but when you start off a conversation that way, it's hard to find any middle ground. First, because it's such an extreme position, and second, because it sets up in your mind this idea that you can, in fact, easily categorize whole groups of people. After all, it only took a few slaps of the keyboard to produce that sentence; how much more effort could it possibly take to be right?

[Buster's Uncle]

AMEN.

[vonbach]

I actually know people from South Africa. The exact same rhetoric was used and the same denial of reality
was used and with predictable results.

[Rusty Edge]

Good idea, Rusty.  Shall I split, or would you like to just start a thread and we take it from here?

I'd say start a news media thread with your post from page 16.

As the SSRI aspect, well that's an aspect of selective coverage -or bias at this point, and isn't entirely a tangent.

BUNCLE-

"Yeah?  I read something the other day about a big societal problem modern communications brings - people have more media choices and gravitate to the ones that feed their world-view.  It kinda explains that right-wing reality bubble I expressed so much concern about the week after the last presidential cycle.

Well ask yourself:  where do the Tea Party types Pig has to hold onto go for news?  Mainly the same operation he's made a major point of antagonizing.  Murdock and Ailes know what they're doing, and I smell bacon frying soon.

-If he loses Rush and G. Gordon too, he's a dead man."