A new law may help establish whether there’s a link to mass shooters and antidepressants.

Questions have long been raised about the possible connection between Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) and violent crimes such as mass shootings at schools. Evidence that these antidepressants can contribute to violent behaviors, including suicide, has not prevented their widespread use – but a new recent Tennessee law may soon change that. The state will now require toxicology testing of mass shooters for SSRIs and other drugs in hopes of producing public evidence to solve this critical riddle.

States Take Initiative

Wyoming is considering similar legislation, which may get a boost in support following revelations that Phoenix Ikner, the accused perpetrator of a recent mass shooting at Florida State University, had been diagnosed with emotional dysregulation and had recently come off prescription medications. Studies show that not only taking SSRIs but also changing doses or coming off the medicines too quickly can cause suicidal ideation and other psychological distress.

For years, anti-gun activists have targeted weapons as the cause of mass shootings while the obvious risks of SSRIs go relatively unaddressed. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been ridiculed for suggesting a connection, yet a Swedish study a decade ago found a significant link between the two. Psychology Today reported in 2015:

“Antidepressants such as fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft) and Lexapro have carried major warnings for over a decade related to new or worsening suicidal behavior in children and young adults. A possible link, however, between this class of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants and other types of violent behavior has been more difficult to find… [A] recent study from Sweden was published that compared the same individual while the person was and was not taking an antidepressant.

“The main finding of the study, and the one that received the most press, was that for both males and females between the ages of 15 and 24 only, there was a statistically significant increase in the rate of violent crime during the period someone was taking the medication compared to the intervals when they weren’t.”

SSRIs: Overused and Overrated?

Revelations linking household chemical exposures to depression augment other studies establishing that depression is likely not caused by imbalances in serotonin or other neurotransmitters. Such evolving understanding should raise medical concerns about the appropriateness of SSRIs as medications for depression, especially when they have been known to cause suicide risks in young people for twenty years (while handguns are blamed for the rise in teen suicide rates). Long-term effects of SSRIs also cause profound loss of sexual function, labeled Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD), which contributes to the falling US fertility rate and long-term damage to mental health.

Eric Harris, one of the infamous Columbine shooters, had been taking Luvox, an antidepressant, prior to that horrible tragedy. Harris had been switched from Zoloft: both drugs, along with Paxil and Prozac, are SSRIs. In addressing possible causes of the Columbine attacks, filmmaker Michael Moore pointed to the possibility of SSRIs in an interview reported at the Citizens Commission on Human Rights of Colorado:

“‘In Bowling for Columbine,’ we never really came up with the answer in terms of why this happened. I think we did a good job of exposing [that] all the reasons that were given were a bunch of B.S. ….And none of it really made any sense. That’s why I believe there should be an investigation in terms of what…prescribed pharmaceuticals these kids were on….

“It just would be shocking…to the millions of parents who prescribe this for their kids if it was finally explained to them, if this is the case, that this perhaps occurred for no other reason other than because of these prescriptions. “Imagine what that would do, imagine how people would totally re-think things – grasping for every little straw they can to explain why something like Columbine happens, when in fact it may be nothing more than this. How else do you explain two otherwise decent kids, very smart, no history of violence to other kids in the school – why them, why did this happen? It’s an extremely legitimate question to pose, and it demands an investigation.”

An estimated 10 million Americans took antidepressant drugs in 2006. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International estimated that in 2020, 45,204,771 Americans were taking antidepressants, including 1,605,375 minors aged 13-17, and 3,547,307 young people aged 18-24. This, despite the FDA warning in a Public Health Advisory back in 2004:

“[A]nxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, impulsivity, akathisia [severe restlessness], hypomania [abnormal excitement] and mania [psychosis characterized by exalted feelings, delusions of grandeur and overproduction of ideas] have been reported in adult and pediatric patients being treated with antidepressants.”

Hope From Tennessee, and HHS?

Tennessee has enacted legislation requiring toxicology tests for mass killers, but the usual ideological suspects opposed the sensible measure. Rep. James Carter “claimed the bill was simply a distraction from the real issue with mass killings: guns.” Sen. Lisa Monroe “questioned whether mandatory testing was a violation of the killer’s right to privacy in death…” Yet common sense prevailed. The advocacy group Able Child’s co-founder, Sheila Matthews, stated:

“This law isn’t just about Tennessee. It’s a blueprint for dismantling the wall of secrecy protecting industries that profit from ignorance. When someone commits mass murder, the public has a right to know if mind-altering drugs played a role.”

Using guns as a foil to divert attention from studying possible pharmaceutical causes of mass killings is unconscionable. More states may follow suit to collect the necessary data to prove whether or not there is a connection between SSRIs and mass shootings. Some voices are calling for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to employ his HHS perch to investigate data at the national level. Like autism and the lab leak theory for COVID-19, inquiring minds want to know whether pharmaceutical industry influence is at play, and seek the truth about whether SSRIs are more harmful than presented.

Americans’ mental and physical health depend on truthful answers.

The author is a Brookfield best-selling author, lawyer, farmer and pastor.