How much do you want to bet the Treatment Advocacy Center is all over this one? "Troubled" obviously equals "mentally diseased" obviously equals "should be on drugs."

It's in my backyard, we're stunned at this point.

well here's the opposite view from TAC---the drugs used for treatment cause the violence---there is a ton of evidence to that effect as well. see ssristories.com and for commentary on this case:

http://www.newstarget.com/022330.html

I didn't read the whole thing, I'm in a hurry...

So he wasn't on any meds, so we go to our respective corners, with some of us, me included, saying the psych drugs probably taken in his formative years caused the propensity for violence, and the parents who kicked him out indicate evidence of abuse, if for no other reason than that ideally you raise your child to a point where at 19 he can leave and wants to move out and you don't have to force him out, though the horrible economy could also be to blame partially. My solution, improve the job market and somehow help parents to love and nurture their children...

Then the TAC folks will say, ooohhhh, he was depressed and then feeling better, after a history of adhd, and probably an axe weilded loon child of nami lore that his parents "had" to abandon for their own safety. Under their criteria, an undiagnosed bipolar. Their solution, force drug anyone who has any psych syptom (and since not having any psych symptoms is a psych symptom, that's a whole lot of folks) and lower the standards for involuntary civil commitment, and make the state pay for all forced care.

Meanwhile, these mass shootings either keep happening at a greater frequency or the media keeps focusing on them more than in the past which makes it seem like they are happening at a greater frequency, in spite of the fact that more and more people are drugged, or because of it, or again for some other reason like terrible economy that gives no hope.

Sad. The family who took this kid in and tried to help should be applauded.

Meanwhile, these massacres apparently keep happening

Right, those of us who believe strongly that antidepressants are THE "tipping point" in these tragedies know that the stage has to be set in some way. We're not denying the kid was troubled, but we're more than confident that meds made him more troubled, not less, and that they compromised his impulse control, his judgment and his connection with reality. This is true whether he was on them or in some kind of abrupt withdrawal. Literally every one of these rampage shootings has a connection to antidepressants, admittedly some more tenuous than others, but in the past two decades it does seem to be a common denominator. One really has to wonder if these drugs were completely removed from the equation if these shootings would still be occurring.

Regarding the statement that he was not on any meds, it might be true, but I am just alerting everyone here that big pharma has an action plan, even a protocol manual, about how to respond to these rampage shootings and they come in and swarm all over the situation to diffuse any negative publicity about their drugs so I don't accept these assertions literally. The suppression that went on in the Cho case is mind boggling. His toxicology report was never released nor was the name of the med that his roommate saw him taking on the day of the shooting ever identified. All we got was some assertion from a coroner that there was nothing in his system that "could" have been related (according to whose criteria I might ask and, if so, why wouldn't they release it?) Furthermore as I have said elsewhere on this site, treatment at any time in the past can influence this sort of behavior. The changes to the brain are long lasting (with apologies to those of you trying to withdraw) and can influence behavior long after the drugs are out of the bloodstream.

The gunman's friend [whose name sounded like Shawn Saunders on the video] was just now interviewed by ABC News and Shawn told the reporter that the gunman, Robert Hawkins, was taking antidepressants the last couple of months.

He also stated that they had been very close friends for the last two and one-half years.

The friend also said that Robert was a "peacemaker" type and that he, Shawn, could not believe that his friend had done this.

Sara, our minds are running in the same direction. In speaking to Karen Barth-Menzies about it, she stated there were "all kinds" of toxicology reports and he could well have been given the most superficial type.

We envision the same Phrma damage control guys swarming VA TECH, promising the college a new building, or just quietly slipping that bottle in their pocket.

Gross.