Sunday, July 20, 2014

Does Anti-psychotic Withdrawal Make People Kill?



So here's an interesting article in the Irish Times: Niamh O'Donoghue writes in "Murderer accused was unable to refrain from killing the deceased because of medication withdrawal, psychiatrist tells court."  I'll let you surf over there if you want to read more, the title says enough for me.

My first thought was :  Really?  People stop their medications all the time, cold turkey, without doctor supervision or approval, and they don't generally kill people.  So how do you know if someone's "symptoms" --like agitation -- are he result of medication withdrawal, or the result of a recurrence of the original illness that the medication was treating?  There's not a great way to sort that one out, but I was befuddled by the idea that one would attribute murder to medication withdrawal.  Maybe that should be on the TV commercials with the list of side effects, "Stopping this medication suddenly can lead you to kill people." 

Murder accused was unable to refrain from killing the deceased because of medication withdrawal, psychiatrist tells court

- See more at: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/murder-accused-was-unable-to-refrain-from-killing-the-deceased-because-of-medication-withdrawal-psychiatrist-tells-court-30437572.html#sthash.6SAmLiC6.dpuf

Murder accused was unable to refrain from killing the deceased because of medication withdrawal, psychiatrist tells court

- See more at: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/murder-accused-was-unable-to-refrain-from-killing-the-deceased-because-of-medication-withdrawal-psychiatrist-tells-court-30437572.html#sthash.6SAmLiC6.dpuf

Murder accused was unable to refrain from killing the deceased because of medication withdrawal, psychiatrist tells court

- See more at: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/murder-accused-was-unable-to-refrain-from-killing-the-deceased-because-of-medication-withdrawal-psychiatrist-tells-court-30437572.html#sthash.6SAmLiC6.dpuf

Murder accused was unable to refrain from killing the deceased because of medication withdrawal, psychiatrist tells court

- See more at: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/murder-accused-was-unable-to-refrain-from-killing-the-deceased-because-of-medication-withdrawal-psychiatrist-tells-court-30437572.html#sthash.6SAmLiC6.dpuf