Citation

Breggin PR. Int. J. Risk Saf. Med. 2010; 22(3): 149-157.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.3233/JRS-2010-0502

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The newer antidepressants frequently cause suicide, violence and manic-like symptoms of activation or over-stimulation, presenting serious hazards to active duty soldiers who carry weapons under stressful conditions. These antidepressant-induced symptoms of activation can mimic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and are likely to worsen this common disorder in soldiers, increasing the hazard when they are prescribed to military personnel. Antidepressants should not be prescribed to soldiers during or after deployment. Recently concern has been expressed about the increased prescription of psychiatric medications, especially antidepressants, to military personnel [46, 57]. In presentations at military conferences on combat stress [8, 10] and in testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Veterans Affairs Committee [9], I have pointed to a probable causal relationship between increasing rates of antidepressant prescription and increasing rates of suicide in the military. This paper reviews and evaluates the relevant scientific data. © 2010 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

human; violence; suicide; PTSD; insomnia; suicidal ideation; depression; aggression; psychosis; stress; military; suicide attempt; Antidepressants; suicidal behavior; FDA; posttraumatic stress disorder; mood disorder; article; prescription; antidepressant agent; behavior disorder; amfebutamone; citalopram; fluoxetine; mirtazapine; nefazodone; paroxetine; serotonin uptake inhibitor; sertraline; venlafaxine; hallucination; anxiety disorder; reboxetine; delusion; placebo; food and drug administration; soldier; medical research; trazodone; benzodiazepine; akathisia; irritability; drug screening; mania; side effect; fluvoxamine maleate; hypomania; apathy; escitalopram; agitation; obsessive compulsive disorder; diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders; randomized controlled trial (topic); controlled clinical trial (topic); antidepressant adverse drug reactions