PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS AND THE DECADE OF THE BRAIN AND THE RISE OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE : COLUMBINE TO NEWTOWN

The 1990's was labeled as the Decade of the Brain by the psychiatric establishment. This 'chemical imbalance' concept became very popular though lacking in any evidence and we began to see the rise of labelling of young people and vast increases in use of psychiatric drugs. The 1990's was also sadly the period we began to see serious school violence arise. It is interesting to note that nearly all of the children involved in the situations of school shootings were involved in the mental health system and undergoing treatment with one or more psychotropic agents: Shawn Cooper, a 15-year-old sophomore at Notus Junior-Senior High School in Notus, Idaho, fired a shotgun at his fellow students. Cooper was on Ritalin. Thomas Solomon, a 15-year-old at Heritage High School in Conyers, Georgia, shot and wounded six classmates. Solomon was on Ritalin. Kip Kinkel, a 15-year-old at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, killed his parents and two classmates and wounded 22 other students. Kinkel was on Ritalin and Prozac, an anti-depressant. Eric Harris, one of the Columbine High School killers, was on the anti-depressant drug Luvox. Yale researchers, as published in the March 1991 Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychology, found in their study of Prozac at least one 12-year-old who started having nightmares. The boy dreamed of killing his classmates at school until he himself was shot. The researchers took the boy off Prozac and he recovered. Then they put him back on the drug, apparently thinking that the anti-depressant could not have caused the nightmares. Once drugged again, the boy started to have acute suicidal thoughts and tendencies. Black box warnings exist on antidepressants and it is known they can cause violence and suicidal thought in young people. We need to investigate this issue further, for it appears that we are now dealing with the tragic aftermath of this "Decade of the Brain" -Dan L. Edmunds, Ed.D.,B.C.S.A.,DAPA batushkad@yahoo.com