[Antipsychotics] Oklahoma experts look at antidepressants
Jim Moore
Hood, Nichols Hills has some looking at links with medication BY
SONYA COLBERG Published: November 22, 2009
http://www.newsok.com/oklahoma-experts-look-at-antidepressants/article/341938
6?custom_click=pod_headline_health#ixzz0XoeVhTSq
As soon as news hit that the alleged Fort
Hood<http://www.newsok.com/keysearch/?er=1&CANONICAL=Fort+Hood&CATEGORY=CITY>,
Texas<http://www.newsok.com/keysearch/?er=1&CANONICAL=Texas&CATEGORY=STATE>,
shooter was a military psychiatrist, a disturbing thought struck
Oklahoma<http://www.newsok.com/keysearch/?er=1&CANONICAL=Oklahoma&CATEGORY=ST
ATE> psychologist Gail Poyner.
"I wondered if....
"I think it would be interesting to know if he had been taking an
SSRI (antidepressant). It seems, based on news reports, that he was
very depressed.
He may have taken an SSRI and that may have played a part. Hopefully
that will be investigated to determine, said Poyner, a Ph.D. with
a practice in Choctaw.
Poyner was out of state and was shocked to hear of the local
allegations against Dr. Stephen Paul
Wolf<http://www.newsok.com/keysearch/?er=1&CANONICAL=Stephen+Paul+Wolf&CATEGO
RY=PERSON>, jailed on murder and assault complaints in connection
with the recent stabbing death of his 9-year-old son, Tommy. The
Nichols
Hills<http://www.newsok.com/keysearch/?er=1&CANONICAL=Nichols+Hills&CATEGORY=
CITY> doctor told the medical licensure board that he took
antidepressants, records show.
Wolf told the board he was hospitalized for depression and under
psychotherapy until his 1988 graduation from medical school at the
University of
Oklahoma<http://www.newsok.com/keysearch/?er=1&CANONICAL=University+of+Oklaho
ma&CATEGORY=ORGANIZATION>.
He told the board in 1996 that he was hospitalized again for three
days in 1995 for acute depression.
"I suffered this as a result of all of the stress in my busy practice
of internal medicine and all the demands in making the final
arrangements for my marriage, Wolf wrote in a letter to the board.
"I returned to work after my hospitalization on adjusted dosages
of antidepressants.
It is unclear whether antidepressant usage might have played any
role in the Nov. 16 stabbing.
"Crimes that involve this horrendous departure from ones character
and typical behavior may warrant an investigation, Poyner said.
"Investigators may want to look into a possible connection between
his behavior and a recent introduction or increase in an antidepressant.
She added that every crime committed by someone taking an antidepressant
isnt necessarily related to the antidepressant. A small percentage
of people have a genetic abnormality that can cause a violent
reaction to certain antidepressants, she said.
"Were finding there are cases of criminal behavior, especially
violent and out-of-character criminal behavior, that may be linked
to these antidepressants, Poyner said.
If theres blood on someones hands, investigate whether antidepressants
were in their systems, some experts say. The drugs are considered
particularly dangerous when certain patients are just beginning
antidepressants, increasing the dosage or getting off antidepressants,
Poyner said.
But other experts say theres no clear evidence that antidepressants
and violence go hand-in-hand.
Fort Hood raises questions Dr. Peter
Breggin<http://www.newsok.com/keysearch/?er=1&CANONICAL=Peter+Breggin&CATEGOR
Y=PERSON>, a medical doctor, former Johns Hopkins
University<http://www.newsok.com/keysearch/?er=1&CANONICAL=Johns+Hopkins+Univ
ersity&CATEGORY=ORGANIZATION> faculty associate and author of
"Medication Madness: The Role of Psychiatric Drugs in Violence,
Suicide and Murder, said he immediately wondered if Maj. Nidal
Hasan<http://www.newsok.com/keysearch/?er=1&CANONICAL=Nidal+Malik+Hasan&CATEG
ORY=PERSON> was self-medicating.
"I think it was very likely, Breggin said.
Hasan was charged recently with 13 premeditated murder counts
stemming from the shootings. Investigators have made allegations
about Hasan exchanging e-mail with a radical imam, connecting with
al-Qaida<http://www.newsok.com/keysearch/?er=1&CANONICAL=Al+Qaeda&CATEGORY=OR
GANIZATION> members, lionizing suicide bombings and yelling "Allahu
Akbar! as the shootings began. But Breggin said something more
subtle might have been missed.
"Its very possible that if he was ... self-medicating, it could
have been
Xanax<http://www.newsok.com/keysearch/?er=1&CANONICAL=Xanax&CATEGORY=PRODUCT>.
I would say not that the drug did it but it might have pushed him
over. But we dont know, Breggin said.
He said that, as a psychiatrist, Hasan could have easily taken
antidepressant samples, and he could write his own prescriptions
for antidepressants. The
FBI<http://www.newsok.com/keysearch/?er=1&CANONICAL=Federal+Bureau+of+Investi
gation&CATEGORY=ORGANIZATION> removed possible evidence from Hasans
apartment and then allowed media into the dingy rooms. Among the
things reported left behind were bottles of medications, including
some that he prescribed to himself.
Some call studies inconclusive For some people, Breggin said, newer
antidepressants are "a virtual prescription for violence.
Dr. Jayson
Hymes<http://www.newsok.com/keysearch/?er=1&CANONICAL=Jayson+Hymes&CATEGORY=P
ERSON>, though, said the studies are somewhat inconclusive. Some
research suggests the newer family of antidepressants, SSRIs
(selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), might have a role in
causing violence. But British studies show they decrease the
likelihood, he noted.
"Walking past a bottle of antidepressants is not going to do anything,
Hymes said. "It sounds to me, in this situation, that a lot of
things just got missed by a lot of people.
He said the drugs under question are those antidepressants that
have become popular in the past 10 or 15 years: drugs such as
Zoloft<http://www.newsok.com/keysearch/?er=1&CANONICAL=Zoloft&CATEGORY=PRODUC
T> and
Celexa<http://www.newsok.com/keysearch/?er=1&CANONICAL=Celexa&CATEGORY=PRODUC
T>. Probably the most violent behavior is a desire in some people
to commit suicide, he said.
A personal theory Hymes has developed indicates that along with the
suicidal thoughts come fatigue and the inability to make a decision
and act on it. The SSRIs work fast so the persons energy level
increases more quickly than the mood elevation, he said. So the
patient, particularly children and young people, may still feel
depressed and suicidal but suddenly has the energy to act out.
Researcher claims violence tie Breggin studied medical and other
records of 50 cases of the newer antidepressants and violence,
suicide or disruptive behavior for his book, he said.
In one case, a man on an antidepressant wanted to die so badly that
he ran into a police officer with his car so he could knock him
down, get his gun and try to shoot himself. Breggin said the police
officer didnt press for a lengthy jail sentence because he thought
the drug had essentially driven the man crazy.
He said there is no question that antidepressants can lead to
violence.
But Hymes said controversy over antidepressants can lead to frightening
people away from drugs that they may need.
"People can ... moan about antidepressants all day until they look
at a loved one lying on the couch, only able to get up and go to
the bathroom and thats it. In which case, its like, Wheres that
antidepressant? Hymes said.
Oklahomas Poyner recently testified as an expert witness in a murder
case in which the defendant had been on antidepressants. In the
weeks leading up to the trial she examined studies and stories on
the correlation of antidepressants and violence. That research
opened her eyes to the possibilities of some famous cases such as
housewife Andrea
Yates<http://www.newsok.com/keysearch/?er=1&CANONICAL=Andrea+Yates&CATEGORY=P
ERSON> drowning of her five children in 2001. But she remains shocked
about the horrible nature of such crimes, she said.
Are claims just an excuse?
Poyner said shes aware that critics will charge that antidepressant
claims merely offer criminals an excuse.
"I know that and I would have said the same thing until I read this
research, Poyner said. "I worked in prisons. Ive treated inmates
and so I tend to be very skeptical of somebody trying to blame
something on something else, especially a medication that is
prescribed by a doctor. But now Im taking a second look at that
thought and saying, Wait a minute.
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