How SSRI Antidepressants Cause Suicide, Violence and Homicide
The 40-minute presentation is delivered by David Carmichael.
There are more than 20 minutes of video clips in the presentation:
- Slide 2 – David Carmichael talking about his homicidal psychotic episode with psychiatrist Josef Witt-Doerring (9:00)
- Slide 4 – Psychiatrist Peter Breggin and lawyer Andy Vickery talking about SSRI antidepressants and violence including mass shootings (2:19)
- Slide 6 – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talking about the rise in mass shootings since the advent of SSRI antidepressants and black box warnings (0:59)
- Slide 7 – Senator Tina Smith challenging Robert F. Kennedy about the need to study the connection between SSRI antidepressants and mass shootings (1:22)
- Slide 27 – Calm psychotic behaviour of David Carmichael in the police station after being arrested and charged with first-degree murder (0:22)
- Slide 31 – Vermont senator Bernie Sanders talking about the powerful influence of pharmaceutical industry lobbyists on politicians in Washington, DC (0:27)
- Slide 27 – Tony Stephan talking about the court judgment Truehope had against Health Canada in 2006 after it tried to take its micronutrient product EMPowerplus off the market in 2003 (2:51)
- Slide 34 – David Carmichael talking about the mandatory need for toxicology testing of mass shooters to include SSRI antidepressants (1:21)
- Slide 37 – Lawyer Bent Wisner talking about how GlaxoSmithKline fraudulently concealed data about cancer-causing contanimants in the drug Zantac to get it approved in 1983 (1:59)
During his presentation, David talks about how the medical system in general and specifically SSRI antidepressants are largely responsible for causing many suicides, homicides and mass shootings.
To help people understand how these catastrophic tragedies can happen, David also provides insight into his 2004 Paxil-induced homicidal psychotic episode, which includes playing this 22-second clip showing his calm behaviour in the London police station after he was arrested, which is how a lot of people have described the normal appearance of loved ones just before they died by suicide or committed homicide.
David has delivered presentations in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and England.
Contact David if you would like him to deliver the 40-minute presentation in your community.
Need for Presentation
In the United States, the number of people using antidepressants more than doubled between 1996 and 2005, from 13 million to 27 million. In 2005, antidepressants was the most commonly prescribed class of drugs in America. Between 2015 and 2018, 13.2% of American adults had used antidepressants; 19% of those 60 years of age and over. The monthly dispening rates of antidepressants in the United States increased by 66.3% for 12 to 25 year olds between 2016 and 2022, with an increase of 130% among 12 to 17 year old females.
In Canada, there were 64 million prescriptions for antidepressants dispensed in 2021, which was more than any other class of drugs. Between 2019 and 2020, there was a 6.4% increase in prescriptions and another 3.8% increase in 2021, with 23.4% of seniors (65 and older) using antidepressants that year.
The global antidepressant market was valued at $15.65 billion in 2020 and is projected to reach $21 billion by 2030, and consumers are getting younger. In England, for example, there was a 41% increase in the prescribing of antidepressants to 5- to 12-year-olds between 2015 and 2021.
Safety and Effectiveness
Antidepressants often do more harm than good, including not protecting against suicide. The type of antidepressants most prescribed since the late 1980s, based largely on the false claim that they correct a chemical imbalance in the brain, are SSRIs.
SSRIs are only effective 15 percent of the time and often cause side effects that can be misdiagnosed as mental disorders, which can lead to psychiatric polypharmacy. Here are some side effects that many people will experience after they start taking Paxil, for example:
According to Swedish researchers, consumers of SSRI antidepressants under 18 years of age are three times more likely to attempt suicide than those not being treated by SSRI antidepresants for what was diagnosed as depression, and the risk of suicide attempts for 18- to 24-year-olds is double. The Swedish study also concluded that SSRIs do not prevent suicide at any age, even for those at high risk of suicide.
Presentation Also Addresses Broader Medical System Issues
The dominant influence that pharmaceutical companies have on the medical system is also addressed in the presentation. The focus is on SSRI antidepressants, but other prescriptions drugs are discussed at the end of the presentation including Purdue Pharma’s opioid OxyContin and GlaxoSmithKline’s heartburn drug Zantac.
In this 2-minute video, for example, California trial lawyer Brent Wisner talks with Tim O’Brien on his podcast Shaping Opinion about GlaxoSmithKline fraudulently concealing data about cancer-causing contaminants in the drug Zantac to get it approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in 1983 for treating heartburn. Hidden documents were discovered through a civil litigation process. In 2020, the FDA requested that Zantac and its generic version ranitidine be withdrawn from the market.