The headlines have rung like a bell through popular culture and a public with fleeting trust in a medical-industrial-complex. A once sacred cow, settled science in the industry was that depression’s cause was a brain chemical imbalance problem. The chemical?….Serotonin – and Big Pharma’s decades long answer was a class of chemicals called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs).
As a chronically depressed person, I have been told by almost everybody that depression is "easily treated today with medications". In other words, I have no excuse for being depressed. If the medications didn't work in the past, then it was only because I didn't take them long enough or I didn't increase the dosage or I didn't try the latest and greatest serotonin antidepressant. This study is vindication for me. At times I wondered if they were correct, and I was wrong, and maybe I should subject myself to one more try. Gaslighting. Sorry if this seems a rant, but I have endured 35 years of this.
If you have a child with a neurological disability/injury (again, big fat thanks to pharma propaganda) they literally throw these meds at kids like candy, too. It’s pretty much EXPECTED that they be on them or even a combo of them. When my son experienced a bizarre roundup of symptoms, and I went to no less than a dozen specialists, NOT ONE thought to ask what meds he was on, and could they be the cause? (Hint, they were.) I have learned the hard way. But now I tell every parent I know of a special needs kid (and oh, boy, are there so so many of us) to watch out for med pushers. Here’s hoping this is just one more torch we can throw on burning pharmaceutical ship.
I just want to send accolades and a deep appreciation To Jefferey for the powerful and so important work you do with Del Bigtree yo are always the highlight of the show for me.
SSRI drugs increase violent behavior and promote recidivism
Despite decades of animal research demonstrating how elevated serotonin in general, and SSRI drugs in particular, turn animals into homicidal, vicious creatures, (and are actually the cause of depression and not the cure for it) mainstream medicine continues to deny that such scary effects are possible in humans. Recent studies demonstrating loss of empathy in humans using SSRI drugs, as well as findings that serotonin is the master switch of “danger” signal in our organism have started to make a small dent into that fraudulent “denial wall” but the consensus among psychiatrists is still that SSRI drugs are quite safe and in fact safe enough to prescribe to even pregnant women and toddlers.
The “denial wall” may begin to crumble if more studies like the one below start to come out. That study found that using SSRI drugs causes people to develop a “tendency” to commit violent crimes. Namely, using those drugs increase the risk of committing a violent crime by a whopping 26%! Perhaps just as importantly, this increase in propensity for violence continued for up to 12 weeks after stopping the drug. However, the 12 weeks number is an average across all patient groups studied. The study found a correlation between length of SSRI usage and duration of violence propensity after stopping the drugs. So, a person that has been taking an SSRI for say 10 years may expect to remain violent/homicidal for years after stopping the drug. And if that is not enough, the study also found that SSRI drugs increase recidivism – i.e. a person with a history of violent behavior in their past were more likely to commit a violent crime again when put on an SSRI drug.
Btw, this link between SSRI and violent behavior is nothing new. When Prozac was first introduced on the European health market decades ago, several countries in Europe refused to approve the drug for treating depression. The most notable example is Germany, which resisted approval for Prozac for almost a decade as it was concerned both about the risks of the drug as well as potential fraud in Eli Lilly’s studies touting it. While most articles covering that “resistance” the German agency BGA put up against the toxic SSRIs focus on the increase in suicide risk from those drugs, BGA’s refusal was driven more by the concern for violent behavior and turning people into criminals. It is quite understandable that a country is more worried about the potential of one person harming many others AND themselves, than harming only themselves.
“…Three years before Prozac received approval by the US Food and Drug Administration in late 1987, the German BGA, that country’s FDA equivalent, had such serious reservations about Prozac’s safety that it refused to approve the antidepressant based on Lilly’s studies showing that previously nonsuicidal patients who took the drug had a fivefold higher rate of suicides and suicide attempts than those on older antidepressants, and a threefold higher rate than those taking placebos.”
Germany and its BGA finally succumbed when the German government was threatened with sanctions and withdrawal of military aid if Prozac was not allowed to be sold in the country. Even then, Germany continued to tout publicly safer and cheaper alternatives such as St. John’s wort, and as a result of that campaign herbal extracts containing this plant are still officially sold and marketed as treatment for depression in the country. Official stats show that many more Germans receive treatment for depression with this herb than SSRI drugs of other pharmaceutical preparations. After the publication of the study below, I would not be surprised if Sweden soon follows suit and starts touting herbal and other “alternative” remedies (e.g. magnesium), for which extensive evidence has been accumulating for decades.
Now, just to address criticisms that I am somehow enamored with the German-style healthcare – I am not. At this point Germany’s medicine is just as sadistic and pathological as elsewhere in “developed” countries. In fact, it was German companies like Bayer who first started promoting the idea that serotonin can be used “therapeutically”, although they never meant that as a cure for some disease but rather in service of Nazi ideals. I am just mentioning the German story to highlight that even the German Nazi-style medical agencies were concerned about approving serotonergic drugs for use in the general public.
“…Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are some of the most widely prescribed antidepressant drugs in the world. Now, an unsettling new study out of Sweden finds that some people given these medications develop a “tendency” to commit violent crimes. According to the research, this violent effect can even last for up to 12 weeks after halting SSRI treatment.”
“…“This work shows that SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) treatment appears to be associated with an increased risk for violent criminality in adults as well as adolescents…though the risk appears restricted to a small group of individuals,” notes first author Tyra Lagerberg, from the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Karolinska Institutet, in a statement.”
“…Lagerberg says earlier studies have made the connection between the drugs and violent behavior in youths, but this latest and larger work is the first to draw a link to adults. Age didn’t seem to make a difference in the outcome.”
“…A massive dataset was analyzed for this research. The medical records of 785,337 people between the ages of 15 and 60 who had been prescribed SSRIs in Sweden between 2006 and 2013. All of those patients were tracked for an average of seven years, regardless of whether or not they continued taking SSRIs.”
“…“The study also shows that past offenders were more likely to commit a violent crime during SSRI treatment: this in itself is an interesting finding, which could be the main focus of future research on the topic,” concludes lead author Professor Eduard.
Wow! I am a licensed mental health therapist. I have always personally believed that depression was caused by things other than a chemical imbalance. In graduate school, you are taught the low serotonin cause of depression as though it is a fact. I have since learned that all that is taught in school, especially science, are theories. People need to be aware of this because so much is taught as "facts". I know my way around a research article, and I find that so much of what is purported as "research" is biased and often poorly done. As a college professor, I tell my students that just because some PhD's write an article and come to some conclusion, doesn't make it fact. There is always an alternative theory that could arise. As a homeschooling mom, I have made sure my children know that nearly everything they learn in science is a theory and to think critically about what they are learning. Your article has reinforced that I have done the right thing. Thank you for sharing the truth!
I suffered for decades from bouts of very dark depression. Then a "natural health" doctor suggested I try magnesium supllements. Hey presto - never again. Of course this could be the infamous placebo effect, but if so, who cares? If it works, it works, is my view.
Several years ago, I fell for the safe-and-effective-chemical-imbalance argument hook-line-and-sinker. I initially resisted a somewhat hard sell from my now-FORMER doctor, but succumbed the the chemical imbalance logic despite misgivings.
I initially noticed what probably was a positive placebo effect. Over time I experienced several of the side effects listed on the package insert. I found a reputable website that showed how to GRADUALLY wean off SSRIs, and I did so over a period of months with no negative effects. I did it on my own because I no longer had a trustworthy doctor. This same doctor said the COVID shots were safe and effective, the benefits outweighed the risks.
I took them for 3 - 4 yrs, fully knowing how addictive they were. It was finally after relocating, and not being able to renew prescriptions was I able to kick that ridiculous habit, and begin to trust in God, family, congregation, and social contacts again! A big thanks to Jeffrey Jaxen, for once again breaking down the barriers that have been constructed by the Rockefeller Drug Cartels & their promoters.
When I had undiagnosed lyme and mold toxicity, I was gaslighted by drs. and told I needed an antidepressant. I tried Zolft for about 6 weeks.....it had the opposite effect.....I became severely depressed and extremely anxious. I would wake in the middle of the night feeling like I was falling from a high-rise building. I had depersonalization. It was the most frightening thing I experienced. After I ditched the Zoloft, I promised myself I would never return to an SSRI.
Concerned about me, my husband called my doctor. He said, I just had to push through 🙄🙄🙄🙄
Makes you wonder if doctors even read about the drugs they are prescribing. They are told something by "experts" and have a broad scope of symptoms to use as a guide, and figure, what the hell go ahead and give it a try! I wonder why this is coming out now though? A lot of us knew (suspected) this to be the case all along. Who allowed it to be studied and covered? I have long thought that there should be a study on school shooters and any other mass shooting perp to see if they are on SSRI's or other brain chemical altering prescription drug, how long they've been on it, etc. My mom tried putting me and my sister (she's 1.5 years older than I am) on antidepressants when we were in high school. Never mind the plethora of other problems that her & my dad never bothered to address, it was easy to take your kid to the doctor and medicate them because that's what TV said was good. We were prescribed Wellbutrin and although I distinctly remember the brain-fog, dizziness, weirdness it made me feel I took it for about a month until I couldn't anymore. So my mom took me back to the doctor who said I probably was just on the wrong kind/wrong dose (freaking eye roll), switched me to Lexapro and then my mind became completely effed. I was in no way, shape, or form depressed. I stopped taking them cold turkey (had no clue you weren't supposed to do that) and became a crazy suicidal lunatic. I had my mom take me back in and I told them I had a severe allergic reaction and would not take them anymore. My sister on the other hand, has had emotional ups and downs her entire life since being put on them, she just turned 40 and last year was prescribed bipolar medication! Like wtf?? She's not bipolar. It's an absolute crime that the medical industry along with media corps who conned parents and schools into believing this utter lie, did this to SO MANY KIDS! I know I'm not the only one. I praise God that even back then, before I was saved, he gave me eyes to see that what was being done was wrong.
Mindfulness and loving kindness meditations helped me. External events can still trigger a numb feeling especially when I haven’t been meditating daily (now do Somabreath work). As a nurse and health coach I told clients about the side effects of Prozac but didn’t know about the lack of connection of serotonin and depression. Thank you
As a chronically depressed person, I have been told by almost everybody that depression is "easily treated today with medications". In other words, I have no excuse for being depressed. If the medications didn't work in the past, then it was only because I didn't take them long enough or I didn't increase the dosage or I didn't try the latest and greatest serotonin antidepressant. This study is vindication for me. At times I wondered if they were correct, and I was wrong, and maybe I should subject myself to one more try. Gaslighting. Sorry if this seems a rant, but I have endured 35 years of this.
Lied to by big pharm for profit? Gee, what a surprise. 🙄
If you have a child with a neurological disability/injury (again, big fat thanks to pharma propaganda) they literally throw these meds at kids like candy, too. It’s pretty much EXPECTED that they be on them or even a combo of them. When my son experienced a bizarre roundup of symptoms, and I went to no less than a dozen specialists, NOT ONE thought to ask what meds he was on, and could they be the cause? (Hint, they were.) I have learned the hard way. But now I tell every parent I know of a special needs kid (and oh, boy, are there so so many of us) to watch out for med pushers. Here’s hoping this is just one more torch we can throw on burning pharmaceutical ship.
I just want to send accolades and a deep appreciation To Jefferey for the powerful and so important work you do with Del Bigtree yo are always the highlight of the show for me.
SSRI drugs increase violent behavior and promote recidivism
Despite decades of animal research demonstrating how elevated serotonin in general, and SSRI drugs in particular, turn animals into homicidal, vicious creatures, (and are actually the cause of depression and not the cure for it) mainstream medicine continues to deny that such scary effects are possible in humans. Recent studies demonstrating loss of empathy in humans using SSRI drugs, as well as findings that serotonin is the master switch of “danger” signal in our organism have started to make a small dent into that fraudulent “denial wall” but the consensus among psychiatrists is still that SSRI drugs are quite safe and in fact safe enough to prescribe to even pregnant women and toddlers.
The “denial wall” may begin to crumble if more studies like the one below start to come out. That study found that using SSRI drugs causes people to develop a “tendency” to commit violent crimes. Namely, using those drugs increase the risk of committing a violent crime by a whopping 26%! Perhaps just as importantly, this increase in propensity for violence continued for up to 12 weeks after stopping the drug. However, the 12 weeks number is an average across all patient groups studied. The study found a correlation between length of SSRI usage and duration of violence propensity after stopping the drugs. So, a person that has been taking an SSRI for say 10 years may expect to remain violent/homicidal for years after stopping the drug. And if that is not enough, the study also found that SSRI drugs increase recidivism – i.e. a person with a history of violent behavior in their past were more likely to commit a violent crime again when put on an SSRI drug.
Btw, this link between SSRI and violent behavior is nothing new. When Prozac was first introduced on the European health market decades ago, several countries in Europe refused to approve the drug for treating depression. The most notable example is Germany, which resisted approval for Prozac for almost a decade as it was concerned both about the risks of the drug as well as potential fraud in Eli Lilly’s studies touting it. While most articles covering that “resistance” the German agency BGA put up against the toxic SSRIs focus on the increase in suicide risk from those drugs, BGA’s refusal was driven more by the concern for violent behavior and turning people into criminals. It is quite understandable that a country is more worried about the potential of one person harming many others AND themselves, than harming only themselves.
http://www.narpa.org/reference/prozac-revisited#:~:text=Three%20years%20before%20Prozac%20received,previously%20nonsuicidal%20patients%20who%20took
“…Three years before Prozac received approval by the US Food and Drug Administration in late 1987, the German BGA, that country’s FDA equivalent, had such serious reservations about Prozac’s safety that it refused to approve the antidepressant based on Lilly’s studies showing that previously nonsuicidal patients who took the drug had a fivefold higher rate of suicides and suicide attempts than those on older antidepressants, and a threefold higher rate than those taking placebos.”
Germany and its BGA finally succumbed when the German government was threatened with sanctions and withdrawal of military aid if Prozac was not allowed to be sold in the country. Even then, Germany continued to tout publicly safer and cheaper alternatives such as St. John’s wort, and as a result of that campaign herbal extracts containing this plant are still officially sold and marketed as treatment for depression in the country. Official stats show that many more Germans receive treatment for depression with this herb than SSRI drugs of other pharmaceutical preparations. After the publication of the study below, I would not be surprised if Sweden soon follows suit and starts touting herbal and other “alternative” remedies (e.g. magnesium), for which extensive evidence has been accumulating for decades.
Now, just to address criticisms that I am somehow enamored with the German-style healthcare – I am not. At this point Germany’s medicine is just as sadistic and pathological as elsewhere in “developed” countries. In fact, it was German companies like Bayer who first started promoting the idea that serotonin can be used “therapeutically”, although they never meant that as a cure for some disease but rather in service of Nazi ideals. I am just mentioning the German story to highlight that even the German Nazi-style medical agencies were concerned about approving serotonergic drugs for use in the general public.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924977X20301048?via%3Dihub
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-05-ssri-antidepressants-violent-crime-patients.html
https://www.studyfinds.org/ssri-antidepressants-linked-to-violent-crimes-among-some-patients/
“…Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are some of the most widely prescribed antidepressant drugs in the world. Now, an unsettling new study out of Sweden finds that some people given these medications develop a “tendency” to commit violent crimes. According to the research, this violent effect can even last for up to 12 weeks after halting SSRI treatment.”
“…“This work shows that SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) treatment appears to be associated with an increased risk for violent criminality in adults as well as adolescents…though the risk appears restricted to a small group of individuals,” notes first author Tyra Lagerberg, from the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Karolinska Institutet, in a statement.”
“…Lagerberg says earlier studies have made the connection between the drugs and violent behavior in youths, but this latest and larger work is the first to draw a link to adults. Age didn’t seem to make a difference in the outcome.”
“…A massive dataset was analyzed for this research. The medical records of 785,337 people between the ages of 15 and 60 who had been prescribed SSRIs in Sweden between 2006 and 2013. All of those patients were tracked for an average of seven years, regardless of whether or not they continued taking SSRIs.”
“…“The study also shows that past offenders were more likely to commit a violent crime during SSRI treatment: this in itself is an interesting finding, which could be the main focus of future research on the topic,” concludes lead author Professor Eduard.
Wow! I am a licensed mental health therapist. I have always personally believed that depression was caused by things other than a chemical imbalance. In graduate school, you are taught the low serotonin cause of depression as though it is a fact. I have since learned that all that is taught in school, especially science, are theories. People need to be aware of this because so much is taught as "facts". I know my way around a research article, and I find that so much of what is purported as "research" is biased and often poorly done. As a college professor, I tell my students that just because some PhD's write an article and come to some conclusion, doesn't make it fact. There is always an alternative theory that could arise. As a homeschooling mom, I have made sure my children know that nearly everything they learn in science is a theory and to think critically about what they are learning. Your article has reinforced that I have done the right thing. Thank you for sharing the truth!
I suffered for decades from bouts of very dark depression. Then a "natural health" doctor suggested I try magnesium supllements. Hey presto - never again. Of course this could be the infamous placebo effect, but if so, who cares? If it works, it works, is my view.
I believe that over 90% of school shootings and the like were committed by people on, or recently on SSRIs.
Great work, Jefferey Jaxen! I also love your reports on The Highwire. A Midwestern Doctor wrote extensively on SSRIs, so I'm sharing a query that provides multiple links: https://amidwesterndoctor.substack.com/?sort=search&search=ssri
Several years ago, I fell for the safe-and-effective-chemical-imbalance argument hook-line-and-sinker. I initially resisted a somewhat hard sell from my now-FORMER doctor, but succumbed the the chemical imbalance logic despite misgivings.
I initially noticed what probably was a positive placebo effect. Over time I experienced several of the side effects listed on the package insert. I found a reputable website that showed how to GRADUALLY wean off SSRIs, and I did so over a period of months with no negative effects. I did it on my own because I no longer had a trustworthy doctor. This same doctor said the COVID shots were safe and effective, the benefits outweighed the risks.
So done with big pharma. 99% of everything they do is a well funded scam.
Follow a ketogenic diet. Poof! You're cured!
I took them for 3 - 4 yrs, fully knowing how addictive they were. It was finally after relocating, and not being able to renew prescriptions was I able to kick that ridiculous habit, and begin to trust in God, family, congregation, and social contacts again! A big thanks to Jeffrey Jaxen, for once again breaking down the barriers that have been constructed by the Rockefeller Drug Cartels & their promoters.
When I had undiagnosed lyme and mold toxicity, I was gaslighted by drs. and told I needed an antidepressant. I tried Zolft for about 6 weeks.....it had the opposite effect.....I became severely depressed and extremely anxious. I would wake in the middle of the night feeling like I was falling from a high-rise building. I had depersonalization. It was the most frightening thing I experienced. After I ditched the Zoloft, I promised myself I would never return to an SSRI.
Concerned about me, my husband called my doctor. He said, I just had to push through 🙄🙄🙄🙄
Makes you wonder if doctors even read about the drugs they are prescribing. They are told something by "experts" and have a broad scope of symptoms to use as a guide, and figure, what the hell go ahead and give it a try! I wonder why this is coming out now though? A lot of us knew (suspected) this to be the case all along. Who allowed it to be studied and covered? I have long thought that there should be a study on school shooters and any other mass shooting perp to see if they are on SSRI's or other brain chemical altering prescription drug, how long they've been on it, etc. My mom tried putting me and my sister (she's 1.5 years older than I am) on antidepressants when we were in high school. Never mind the plethora of other problems that her & my dad never bothered to address, it was easy to take your kid to the doctor and medicate them because that's what TV said was good. We were prescribed Wellbutrin and although I distinctly remember the brain-fog, dizziness, weirdness it made me feel I took it for about a month until I couldn't anymore. So my mom took me back to the doctor who said I probably was just on the wrong kind/wrong dose (freaking eye roll), switched me to Lexapro and then my mind became completely effed. I was in no way, shape, or form depressed. I stopped taking them cold turkey (had no clue you weren't supposed to do that) and became a crazy suicidal lunatic. I had my mom take me back in and I told them I had a severe allergic reaction and would not take them anymore. My sister on the other hand, has had emotional ups and downs her entire life since being put on them, she just turned 40 and last year was prescribed bipolar medication! Like wtf?? She's not bipolar. It's an absolute crime that the medical industry along with media corps who conned parents and schools into believing this utter lie, did this to SO MANY KIDS! I know I'm not the only one. I praise God that even back then, before I was saved, he gave me eyes to see that what was being done was wrong.
Gluten is a definite cause of Depression.
Look to the Diet, Exercise etc., and a future-looking POSITIVE ATTITUDE.
Mindfulness and loving kindness meditations helped me. External events can still trigger a numb feeling especially when I haven’t been meditating daily (now do Somabreath work). As a nurse and health coach I told clients about the side effects of Prozac but didn’t know about the lack of connection of serotonin and depression. Thank you