jesse22 - maybe all one has to do is look at our wonderful pharmaceutical industry ...
(I originally posted this in 2012 so it's clearly somewhat outdated, and the link is no longer active)
Adult medication and undeveloped brains do not mix
As I gathered data for my novel, one thing kept coming up in article after article. Something the experts had not included in their data, and many seemed to have overlooked entirely. In most cases the news articles mentioned it in passing, using it to point to a history of violence or depression. They saw the smaller picture, but they failed to see the bigger one.
Out of 22 cases I was able to study in depth, in all but one case, these boys had been on some type of anti-depressant or similar medication. Not only that, time after time I found that their dosages had recently been changed. Either they had recently been prescribed, changed dosage, or just stopped taking them.
Most of these shootings occurred in the 1990's, in a time where there was a 700% increase in psycho stimulant use. That usage more than doubled between 1999 and 2007. A recent estimate states that more than 6% of American children are now on some sort of psychiatric medication, this estimate is even higher among teens. Out of approximately 5 million children under the age of 18, that means 300, 000 are currently on some sort of psychiatric medication.
Recent studies have shown that a small percentage of those on psycho stimulants do show some signs of violent behavior. These people already prone to violence mixed with antidepressants can become a very dangerous threat. Many become a danger to themselves, resulting in attempted or completed suicide while others become outwardly violent. Only .31 % of patients taking a placebo experienced a "hostility event" that number doubled to .65 % when they were given the anti-depressant Paxil, approximately 200 children and teens.
While not everyone who is prescribed these medications can be expected to act out violently, if the propensity for violent behavior is already there, introducing these medications has been proven to double the likely hood of a violent reaction. It's like playing Russian roulette with pills. The risk is small, but the damage done can be great.
This is a subject that is getting more and more attention in recent years, people are beginning to see the dangers and respond to them. Yet the number of prescriptions written for children is increasing. They are now prescribing some of the medications for infants and toddlers.
A black box warning is now required for all antidepressants. These medications were made for and tested on adults. Even in the late teens, the brain is still not done developmentally. Introducing chemicals to an undeveloped brain can and does have dire consequences. They can decrease blood flow to the brain, and induce psychosis in some patients. Increased suicidal thoughts and behaviors can also occur.