LOS ANGELES - TelAve -- By CCHR International

A new report by Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) International documents 145 violent incidents committed by individuals taking or withdrawing from psychiatric drugs. These incidents, including mass shootings, stabbings, vehicle assaults, domestic strangulations, and other attacks, resulted in 720 deaths and 1,602 people wounded or injured.

The cases were compiled from media reports, court rulings, and available toxicology findings. They highlight a significant and ongoing gap: toxicology testing for psychotropic drugs is rarely conducted or publicly reported in violent crime investigations. CCHR stresses the need for comprehensive forensic reporting, including mental health treatment history, prescription records obtained via warrants or subpoenas, and consultation with treating providers or pharmacies, and to require psychotropic toxicology testing in all acts of mass or extreme violence.

In 2025, Tennessee took a landmark step, mandating toxicology testing for psychotropic drugs in autopsies after certain mass shootings.

Studies show that a small percentage of people taking psychiatric drugs may experience aggressive, violent, or suicidal behavior—side effects that are listed in the drug labeling but often overlooked.

The U.S. Violence Prevention Project's Mass Shooter Database shows that 24% of mass shooters had been taking psychiatric drugs. Due to sealed records and limited toxicology disclosures, the true figure is likely much higher.[1]

Key Statistics from the Report

• Geographic Distribution: 118 cases (81%) occurred in the U.S. and include two active-duty servicemen in Iraq and Afghanistan. Other countries include Australia, Canada, France, the UK, Finland, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, and Sweden.
• Methods of Violence: 92 shootings (63.5%), including 34 school shootings; 24 stabbings (17%), including 8 school stabbings. The remaining cases involved mixed shooting/stabbing, choking, vehicle assaults, strangulation/suffocation/drowning, and the Germanwings flight crash that killed 149 people.
• Perpetrator Outcomes: At least 58 (40%) died during the incident—45 (31%) by suicide and 13 (9%) killed by responders (questionably acts of "suicide by cop").
• Age Range: 6–19: 46 (31.7%); 18–25: 39 (26.8%); 26–35: 40 (27.6%); 36–74: 36 (24.8%).

Youth examples include:

• A 6-year-old boy (2023) shot and wounded his teacher while being treated with drugs for ADHD.
• A 10-year-old boy (2012) stabbed his 12-year-old friend to death while taking an antidepressant.
• A 19-year-old school shooter (2018) had been prescribed psychiatric drugs since age six, including antipsychotics and stimulants.

CCHR documented that at least 40 perpetrators (27.6%) had prior psychiatric hospitalization. As of 2019, over 98% of psychiatric hospitals and 72% of outpatient mental health facilities provided psychotropic drugs.[2]

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Jan Eastgate, President of CCHR International, said: "When violent offenders are reported to have prior psychiatric hospitalization, it is reasonable to assume—on the balance of probabilities—that they were prescribed psychotropic drugs during their treatment."

Courts have directly considered the influence of several psychiatric drugs:

• 1998: A Wyoming jury found an antidepressant 80% responsible for a man's killing of family members.
• 1999: An Australian judge ruled an antidepressant contributed to a husband strangling his wife.
• 1999: Charges against a new father were dismissed after experts linked a prescription stimulant to induced psychosis in the killing of his infant daughter.
• 2009: A Canadian judge determined an antidepressant influenced a 16-year-old to knife his friend to death.

Regulatory bodies have flagged homicidal ideation linked to a certain antidepressant and stimulant. A 2010 analysis of FDA Adverse Event Reporting System data identified 1,530 cases of homicide or homicidal ideation associated with psychiatric drugs; underreporting suggests the actual number is far higher.

Dr. David Healy and colleagues have documented how antidepressants potentially induce emotional blunting, mania, and psychosis, contributing to hostility.[3]

At least 19 cases in the CCHR report involve individuals likely experiencing withdrawal. Withdrawal from psychiatric drugs may cause agitation, akathisia (severe inner restlessness), irritability, emotional instability, hallucinations, and rebound psychosis. These symptoms are frequently misattributed to the underlying condition.

A 2019 systematic review found that 56% of patients experience antidepressant withdrawal symptoms, which can include akathisia linked to violent behavior. Antipsychotics carry a 15–35% risk of akathisia.[4] The Journal of Psychoactive Drugs advised that all major classes of psychiatric drugs can sometimes produce withdrawal syndromes.[5]

Eastgate addresses claims that there is "no scientific evidence" linking psychiatric drugs to violence: "Such claims rely on a false standard. Randomized controlled trials deliberately testing drugs for homicide or mass violence are ethically impossible—just as no such trials exist for alcohol and car crashes, whose well-established risks remain undisputed. We rely on real-world evidence: regulatory warnings, adverse event reports, court findings, toxicology data, and clinical observations."

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CCHR stresses that patients should never suddenly stop taking these medications; discontinuation should only occur under medical advice and supervision.

CCHR urges immediate action:

1.    Mandate full psychotropic drug toxicology screening and comprehensive forensic reporting of mental health treatment history and prescriptions in the autopsy of any deceased perpetrator following an incident of mass or extreme violence. For living perpetrators, require police to seek voluntary testing with informed consent (with legal representation).

2.    Establish a national database tracking violence, suicide, and homicide linked to psychiatric drug use or withdrawal.

3.    Fund independent research on withdrawal and safe tapering support.

CCHR is a mental health industry watchdog that investigates and exposes violations of human rights in the mental health system. Established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and Professor of Psychiatry Dr. Thomas Szasz, its documentary Prescription for Violence was recently released as a public service.

Sources:

[1] "Mass Shooter Database," The Violence Prevention Project, www.theviolenceproject.org/mass-shooter-database/; "Autopsies sealed in ongoing investigation," Uvalde Leader News, 24 Nov. 2022

[2] "National Mental Health Services Survey (N-MHSS): 2019" Data on Mental Health Treatment Facilities, SAMHSA

[3] David Healy et. al., "Antidepressants and Violence: Problems at the Interface of Medicine and Law," PLoS Med. 1 Sept. 2005

[4] James Davies, John Read, "A systematic review into the incidence, severity and duration of antidepressant withdrawal effects: Are guidelines evidence-based?" Addictive Behaviors, 97 (2019), p. 111; Nicolas Badre, MD, et al., "Exiting Antidepressants: A Needed Spotlight on Withdrawal," Psychiatric Times, 9 Feb. 2026.

[5] Joanna Moncrieff, et. al., "The Psychoactive Effects of Psychiatric Medication: The Elephant in the Room," J Psychoactive Drugs, 18 Nov. 2013