Furious Seasons

May 12, 2008

British Lawyer, Crazed On Anti-Depressants And Booze, Killed By Cops

This a very sad story and should serve as a warning to anyone taking anti-depressants, particularly someone new to them or going through a dose change. A London lawyer was shot dead by police last week after he came home drunk from a pub, began acting erratically and, then, began firing his shotgun from his home. His name was Mark Saunders, aged 32, and he'd reportedly been taking an anti-depressant for a few months.

After a standoff, the cops shot him five times.

This is a tragic outcome and points to a very simple rule that people who take anti-depressants should adhere to: be damn careful about mixing alcohol and anti-depressants, particularly until you know how you react to the mixture, adn I simply do not care where you stand on the great meds divide. There have been too many stories over the last 20 years of people who met tragic outcomes from mixing booze and anti-depressants (and booze and Chantix) and tragedies such as Saunders' should serve as a reminder to all.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at May 12, 2008 12:01 AM

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Comments

Thank you for posting this. I have mixed ADs and booze in the past, more out of stupid thoughtlessness and that rediculous feeling of "nothing bad could happen to *me*". After reading this post I will never mix again.

Which really means I'm giving up booze I guess. Probably a good thing!

~Shiv

Posted by: Shiv at May 12, 2008 03:29 AM

The problem here is alcoholics , who don't consciously know/admit they are alcoholic, or ones who DO KNOW they are alcoholic and continue to drink, then take both the psychiatric medicine and alcohol.
IMO If someone is relatively normal, they should try the group, that is in the front of the telephone book, before psychiatric drugs.

Craig Ferguson speaks on his past problems as an alcoholic and why he will not ridicule Britney Spears LINK

Posted by: mark p.s. at May 12, 2008 08:26 AM

The SSRIs can cause a craving for alcohol and this is listed in the Physicians Desk Reference.

On www.SSRIstories.com/index.php there is a story of the autobiography, "Williow Weep for Me," by Meri Nana-Ama Danquah, a black poet/author, recording her experience of becoming an alcoholic while taking Zoloft. A friend of hers finally helped her figure out what happend to her and she discontinued the Zoloft, never to crave alcohol again.

I believe now that all SSRIs have a warning on the package from the pharmacy to not consume alcohol while taking the drug.

Posted by: Rosie C at May 12, 2008 10:22 AM