Every time there's a mass shooting, some arsehole comes on the internet talking about how it's "the SSRIs that made him do it".
I will say this...the way SSRIs are given out is irresponsible. You can go into the emergency room with anxiety and be handed a 'scrip for Paxil and sent on your way. But these meds do NOT behave the same way for everyone.
Our allopathic US health-care system wants to treat everything with a pill. Come in with anxiety/depression, take an SSRI, be on your way. Lots of people are helped by a serotonin boost. Others become suicidal/homicidal.
The best way I can describe it is that if your brain is "stuck" in a state that prevents you from doing something, then the SSRI helps "un-stick" you. If your anxiety is preventing you from being comfortable in social situations, taking an SSRI can improve your mood and make you more relaxed. If your anxiety is preventing you from a psychotic or manic episode, then taking an SSRI for anxiety can cause mania or even violent behavior.
The real problem with Adam Lanza wasn't that he was on SSRIs. It's that someone, somewhere, thought the best way to treat his deep-seated psychological issues, probably stemming largely from emotional neglect and maybe trauma, was to give him some pills and send him on his way.
This is a kid who needed a hug...whose "hug balance" was in the red for years. And what did they do? The doctors gave him some pills, the mother taught him to shoot. But no one ever LISTENED. No one ever SAW him as a distinct person with his OWN thoughts and feelings and frustrations and struggles.
Well they saw him THIS time.
I agree with just about everything. The only thing I would clarify is the reason so many people are on SSRI's. It is not necessarily the doctors. Yes, there are a LOT of docs in a hurry to give you a pill. The problem is the patients. Patients demand a pill and a quick-fix for everything. It is the reason antibiotics are over-prescribed. I will talk for 10 minutes about why antibiotics won't work for a cold. The person listens intently, nodding at the appropriate spots to indicate understanding. When I am done, they still want an antibiotic. It is very frustrating. People come in because their spouse died, and want a pill to take away the pain they feel. There is no pill for that, and you SHOULD be sad. Deal with it.