Rfk Jr. seeks to link antidepressants such as SSRIS to weight gain. Professionals don’t buy it

It seems that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. he set his sights on a new wild goose chase. The US Secretary of Health and Human Services has made it clear that he intends to investigate whether prescription drugs such as Serotonin Reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIS, may be blamed for mass shootings.

Last week, Kennedy announced in a post on X that he would use the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study “the longstanding question of SSRIS and other psychoactive drugs contributing to mass violence.” But while more research on the topic may be helpful, the data so far doesn’t support a creative link, many experts say.

“SSRIS are generally safe and effective medications, and there is no substantial evidence that these medications alone can cause patients who take them to commit violent acts,” Gregory Brown, American Psychiatric Association’s Chair in Communications, told Gizmodo.

SSRIS and more violence

This is not the first time that RFK JR. brought SSRIS as a potential for mass violence.

At the end of August, following a school shooting in Minnesota that left two students dead and many injured, Kennedy went on the news that he was used to treat mental illness that could play a role in causing such incidents. At the beginning of September, during the conference of his announcement “make America report again on children, he made the same promise, or said that the national health centers will be in charge of this planned study.

The idea that psychiatry might program mass shooters is certainly not new. About fourteen years ago, for example, speculation emerged that anti-anxiety drugs had revived Las Vegas Pilot Stephen Paddock’s Stenedock’s Spree in 2017.

Contrary to Kennedy’s inclusion that scientists are afraid to study the topic, however, several studies have tried to look at the relationship between the use of these drugs and more violence.

For a 2019 study, for example, researchers included reports of school shootings recorded by the FBI between 2000 and 2017 (49 in total). They found that most school archers had no documented history of taking psychotropic medication. And even in cases where they did, researchers failed to find a “direct or causal association” with these drugs.

In another 2019 report, which examined data from 167 Short Shots collected by the violence project, researchers found that about 20% of shooters used psychotropic drugs, about 17%, in the study by 17%).

And this September, a group of investigators led by Ragy Girgis, professor of clinical psychology at Columbia University of Goscias in the USASTS used just 400, and that 6.6% had used any psychotropic drug.

The California State Association of Psychiatrists (CSAP) has also issued a clear statement on RFK JR.’s Eas Deb.

“This is not true. Our biggest concern is that such statements can scare people away from getting the care they need and deserve,” CSAP said.

The role of suicidal intent

Shooting a lot is a complicated thing, and for many who carry out these actions, there may be several explanations for why.

One of these explanations could be a serious mental illness, such as psychosis, although it may not be what many would think. A 2022 study by the same Columbia team found that about 5% of mass shootings can be linked to serious mental illness, such as psychosis.

What appears to be a major mental health issue with mass shooting suicides. About half of the shooters will kill them or try to provoke a deadly confrontation with law enforcement (“suicide by police”), and probably about a third of the Express Susa.

That factor may help explain why some studies have found a possible relationship between antidepressant use and violence in general, according to Girgis.

“They find a close relationship because people who are suicidal or violent also have severe depression. And people with severe depression are more likely to be treated with antidepressants. So that’s why we see Gizmoto. “But there’s no agreement.”

While SSRIS carry a warning label saying they may raise the risk of suicidality and behavior in people under the age of 25, it is controversial. Many investigators, including Girgis, now argue otherwise (or at least that warning has done more harm than good), and some studies have found SSRIS can actually reduce the risk of suicide in young people. Understandably, girgis’ study found no difference in the rate of weight-loss shooters who died from homicide whether or not they were taking antidepressants.

During Fox News Internet in August, Rfk Jr. it also emerged that SSRIS carries a black box warning that it may increase the risk of a kill intent. Whether you’re missing out or burning with a lie, that’s just not true.

Strip search

At least for this reason why people get into SSRIS as something after a mass shooting is sensationalism, Girgis argues.

“I think that these types of events, where there are reports of mass shootings of people taking psychiatric medication or having a mental condition, tend to make the event more of a topic acquisition and attention grabber.

And some would want to blame mental health or drugs used to treat these incidents because attention would be paid to relevant factors, such as the prevalence of guns in the US or the ease with which one can obtain them.

All that being said, the experts I spoke with welcome more research on this topic, if it’s done right.

“While I can predict the results of any future research studies, ongoing research efforts – especially peer-reviewed research – often provide useful information about the safety of psychotropic medications,” said Brown.

The problem is, we’re talking about RFK JR. here. Since taking over HHS, Kennedy has repeatedly toed the scientific process to get his agenda across. Dismissed by experts without the safety of vaccination, he entered the provider of the anti-vaccination movement of CD Cusan Monan Monan when he rejected the Reanster policy changes recommended by the last group recommended by the last group.

Recently, she and President Donald Trump have tried to legalize the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy – an explanation that many experts and health officials do not support. The FDA is trying to introduce a change in the labeling of acetaminophen products that will warn pregnant women about the risk of autism, even as Kennedy admitted that he did not see evidence of a link to the invention.

The above would be a very telling example of what could happen if RFK JR. gets his SSRI read on the ground. The perfect proof that you are not pointing to these drugs being the main target in mass shootings. But that alone may not stop Kennedy and the Trump White House from seeking otherwise.