“He, obviously, had been treated for quite some time by mental health care professionals… he had been prescribed medication.” — Bill Brown, Santa Barbara County Sheriff

By Kelly Patricia O’Meara
May 26, 2014

There are 22 international drug regulatory agency warnings of psychiatric drugs causing violence—including mania, psychosis, depersonalization, aggression and even homicidal ideation.  33 school shootings and/or school-related acts of violence have been committed by those taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs, six of which were stabbings, resulting in 164 wounded and 77 killed.  After reading the rambling manifesto, aptly titled “My Twisted World,” written by Elliot Rodgers, one thing becomes abundantly clear—mental health “treatment” was a major theme throughout his life and this included being prescribed psychiatric drugs.

The 22-year old explained in his manifesto that he had psychiatric drugs and made them part of his plan in ending his own life. On page 133 of the manifesto, Rodgers explains that he’ll shoot himself in the head and “I will quickly swallow all of the Xanax and Vicodin pills I have left….” He explains that if the bullets don’t kill him, the mixture of pills will.

Additionally, based on Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s statement that, He, obviously, had been treated for quite some time by mental health care professionals… he had been prescribed medication,” and “he had a severe underlying mental illness,” there seems little doubt, once again, that psychiatric mind-altering drugs are implicated in another mass murder.

And it is quite possible that Rodgers was withdrawing from a psychiatric drug, which would also explain his violent behavior. Many people who have taken psychiatric drugs have found out the withdrawal effects of the drugs can persist for months, even years, after the drugs are stopped. Patients are frequently not warned about this, and are often told that it is simply symptoms of their “mental disorder” returning—yet studies have confirmed that after patients stop taking certain psychiatric drugs, the withdrawal effects may last several months to years afterwards.

Recent shootings committed by individuals under the influence of psychiatric drugs at the time of the killing include Fort Hood shooter Ivan Lopez and Navy Yard shooter Aaron Alexis

The fact is, in addition to at least 33 school shootings and/or school-related acts of violence committed by those taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs, there are 17 other high acts of senseless violence committed by individuals taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs resulting in another 69 dead and 48 wounded, including the recent Navy Yard and Fort Hood shootings.

The all too common denominator among perpetrators is psychiatric drugs, yet, once again, rather than call for an investigation into the dangers associated with these psychiatric drugs, a Member of Congress already is calling for enhanced mental health screening—something this perpetrator certainly did not lack and even provides details about his psychiatric history in the manifesto.

Rodgers does not provide details about when he was first diagnosed, what that diagnosis was, or what psychiatric drugs had been prescribed to him throughout his young life. But there can be no doubt, based on his own admissions, he is another in a long line of mass murderers with a long history of psychiatry’s drug “treatments.”

It seems pretty clear that psychiatric drugs played a key role in this killer’s life. Considering this data about Rodgers and the fact that there are 22 drug regulatory agency warnings from five countries and the European Union on psychiatric drugs causing violence, hostility, aggression, psychosis, mania and homicidal ideation, and lawmakers still don’t get it… they still think the problem lies in the tool used in the killings?

How long will lawmakers prolong this senseless violence? Although the Food and Drug Administration dismissed evidence in 1991 exposing the fact that antidepressants could cause suicide and violence, the overwhelming data continued to pile up and, in 2004, they were forced to issue the agencies most severe “Black box” warnings.  Thirteen years were wasted and countless lives were lost and severely affected because those who had the power to act failed to do so.

Too many years have passed and too many opportunities missed because those who have the power to save lives refuse to consider the big picture, including that those who suffer from mental illness are being treated with very dangerous psychiatric mind-altering drugs. Rodgers, like so many before him, is another example of a killer having been “treated” with drugs that are so dangerous, the federal government mandates they carry its strongest warnings. It’s time to investigate these drugs.

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Kelly Patricia O’Meara is an award-winning former investigative reporter for the Washington Times’ Insight Magazine, penning dozens of articles exposing the fraud of psychiatric diagnosis and the dangers of the psychiatric drugs—including her ground-breaking 1999 cover story, “Guns & Doses,” exposing the link between psychiatric drugs and acts of senseless violence. She is also the author of the highly acclaimed book, Psyched Out: How Psychiatry Sells Mental Illness and Pushes Pills that Kill. Prior to working as an investigative journalist, O’Meara spent sixteen years on Capitol Hill as a congressional staffer to four Members of Congress. She holds a B.S. in Political Science from the University of Maryland.