The public is at last awakening to the dirty secret of SSRI antidepressants — they trigger psychotic violence (e.g., suicides and sometimes mass shootings). This side effect was discovered in clinical trials but covered up by the FDA, even after the agency received a deluge of complaints (39,000 in the first nine years¹) once the first SSRI, Prozac, hit the market. For example, consider how they acted at this 1991 Congressional hearing:

Because of those deaths, lawsuits through discovery found the drug companies were well aware of these issues (and many more) but chose to conceal them. As such, we now have a much clearer picture of the harms of these medications.

Note: While many patients react badly to SSRIs, there is also a subset of patients who benefit from SSRI antidepressants (discussed here). Sadly, it is quite rare that patients will work with antidepressant prescriber practitioners who have the time and knowledge to accurately determine which patients to give these drugs to.

The Toxicology Bell Curve

In toxicology, you will typically see severe and extreme reactions occur much less frequently than moderate reactions:

For example, consider the distribution of injuries from the COVID-19 vaccines.

Note: These calculations were based on 2023 data,² and since then, vastly more evidence of harm has emerged (e.g., a 2025 poll found 63 million American adults had minor reactions to the vaccine and 17 million had severe side effects³).

As such, violent psychosis is just the tip of the iceberg for the mind-altering effects SSRIs have. For example, in a survey of 1,829 patients on antidepressants in New Zealand:⁴

Most importantly, the respondents to that survey reported that their prescribers did not warn them about many of these side effects.

Doctored Data

Originally developed as a weight loss drug, Eli Lilly pivoted to having Prozac "treat" depression as this metric was subjective to the point any trial could be doctored to show a "benefit." Despite this, Prozac's initial data was so atrocious, it could only be approved through bribes (which a former Eli Lilly executive testified occurred).

This fraud is proven by patients consistently choosing to stop taking SSRIs despite them being "proven" to make you feel better:

Note: Fluorinated versions of pharmaceuticals tend to be more toxic and persist for longer periods in the body (making them much harder to detoxify from). Many believe a key reason SSRIs cause so many issues is due to the high dose of fluoride they bring into the brain.

Violent Behavior

In 1985 when the FDA's safety reviewer scrutinized Eli Lilly's Prozac application, they realized Lilly had "failed" to report psychotic episodes of people on the drug and that Prozac's adverse effects resembled that of a stimulant drug.

In turn, the warnings on the labels for SSRIs, such as anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, aggressiveness, impulsivity, akathisia, hypomania, and mania match the effects commonly observed with stimulant street drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine.⁹ Likewise:

To illustrate what this can look like, I will share what four different patients experienced prior to killing themselves or others:¹³

"A month later, Toran experienced a severe cluster of adverse reactions including suicidal behavior, self-harm, aggression, hostility, hallucinations, lack of concentration and impaired functioning. The symptoms were so severe that he dropped out of school. His psychiatrist's response was to increase his dose, which worsened the adverse reactions.

Six days later, Jake had his first reaction. He walked out of an exam half-way through it and cried for about 2-3 hours that night, saying, 'You don't know what it's like in my head.' His parents thought this was from the stress of the exams. They never imagined that a drug could do this to a person.

The last two days she was just a complete zombie I have to say. She was just agitated, jumping at every noise and not making sense. I was very concerned. We were very close to Cecily. I just loved her deeply.

Shortly before his death, Woody came home crying after driving around all day. He sat in a fetal position on the kitchen floor profusely sweating with his hands pressing around his head saying, 'Help me. Help me. I don't know what's happening to me. I am losing my mind. It's like my head is outside my body looking in.'"

Note: The process through which SSRIs do this (e.g., some individuals report an experience akin to "being possessed") is discussed further here.

Fortunately, thanks to MAHA being elected to office, after decades, there at last appears to be real interest in addressing this issue. Consider, for example, this statement from H.H.S. Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.:

Note: Initially, the media disclosed school shooters were on SSRIs, but then stopped ever mentioning a shooter's medications. I learned through a CDC employee the CDC has found shooters continue to be on SSRIs but has avoided disclosing it to avoid the political ramifications of acknowledging this.

Likewise, the agitating quality of SSRIs can frequently trigger Bipolar disorder. For example:

This helps to explain why bipolar has become hundreds of times more common since the pre-SSRI era and switched from being a temporary to lifelong condition that is far more disruptive and difficult to treat (e.g., 83% of bipolar patients reported being severely impaired in some facet of their lives).^17,18

Note: A good case can be made that many of the severe complications from bipolar disorder are a result of the medications used to treat it rather than the disease itself.

Sexual Dysfunction

One of the most common ways antidepressants worsen depression is by causing permanent sexual dysfunction. For example, a Spanish study of five of the most commonly prescribed SSRIs found on average the drugs caused sexual disturbances in 59% of 1,022 (previously normal) patients, two-thirds of whom considered that dysfunction unacceptable and that:^19,20

Remarkably, to avoid scaring patients away from a "necessary" prescription, doctors rarely warn their patients of these side effects. Fortunately, two months ago, the New York Times finally brought mainstream attention to this and exposed that virtually no psychiatrist will disclose this issue to patients.²¹ To quote the article:

"Only over the past few years has Ruth learned, from her daughter, about the sexual side effects she still lives with and about her grief. 'Her erogenous zones don't work,' 'I have huge, terrible regret' about allowing her child to be medicated. 'I can't believe I so easily said yes.'

He took a moderate dose, a 10 milligram pill, and an hour later, he said, 'I had numb genitals.' He abandoned the drug almost right away and has taken no psychiatric medication since. 'Three years later,' he explained, his penis 'feels like my elbow — if you touch my elbow, it's that same kind of sensation.'

And there is emotional numbness to go with the physical. 'I can't feel any connection to you guys — I feel like my soul was ripped out of my body.' He has tried to get doctors to pay attention. 'They were like: That's impossible. It's all in your head.'

But she noticed quickly that on the drug, climaxes became 'superficial' and 'so short-lived,' she recalled. 'It infused a dominant emotion of frustration into sex.' Her capacity for transporting sex is still mostly relegated to the past, and she worries that it will stay back there forever.

It has been six years since Guin stopped taking her S.S.R.I. She is 29. 'I don't have the capacity for romantic relationships,' she said. 'That's just gone in a stark way. For me, the chemical mechanisms of the romantic are too deeply tied in with sexuality for the romantic to exist independently ... She has just had her first child.

Because she has no partner, she used in vitro fertilization.' 'I wanted a partner,' she said. 'I wanted a child to grow up with their mom and dad. Your sexual life is so core when you consider that the sexual relationship is the basis for most long-term relationships.'"

Emotional Anesthesia

Much in the same way SSRIs make you "sexually numb" they can do the same to emotions. Common stories include:

Note: In psychiatry, this effect is termed "emotional blunting," and the studies I've reviewed found 40% to 60% of SSRI users experience this.

Worse still, SSRIs can also cause a variety of other disconcerting psychiatric changes (e.g., many report it feeling as though they are losing their mind).

Birth Defects

To increase sales, SSRIs are routinely pushed on pregnant mothers despite the fact:

Note: Other newborn complications linked to SSRIs include irritability, tremor, hypertonia, and difficulty sleeping or breastfeeding, along with reduced growth early in life.

SSRI Withdrawals

One of the most insidious aspects of SSRIs is that they are dosed so that you can easily enter severe withdrawals if you change their dose.^27,28

This is immensely unfortunate as:

Additionally, less severe (and often fluctuating) withdrawal symptoms also occur such as:

Furthermore, these reactions are very common. A meta-analysis found that 56% of patients who stop using SSRIs experience withdrawals, that 46% who stop an SSRI experience severe withdrawals, and that these withdrawals last for weeks to months. Additionally, it is well known in the SSRI recovery community that the risk of a withdrawal varies greatly depending on the drug (Paxil is notorious for this, Cymbalta is also a common offender).³⁰

Note: A 1996 door to door survey of 2003 randomly selected people in England found that 78% of them considered SSRIs to be addictive.³¹

Sadly, the industry is well aware of this, to the point they will often deliberately put "placebo" subjects in SSRI trials into withdrawals (by terminating their existing prescription) so they can dishonestly make the drug group look "better" than the "placebo" patients.

Pharmaceutical companies are frequently accused of operating as "organized drug dealers," an argument especially common with SSRIs due to their (addictive) potential for dependence and how aggressively they are promoted to everyone.

Conclusion

Since the pharmaceutical industry is fundamentally driven by a need to maximize sales, drugs will routinely be brought to market that benefit a small subset of patients but then be marketed to an ever increasing number of people (e.g., the SSRI manufacturers invested heavily in convincing the public normal emotions actually "needed" lifelong SSRI treatment and that depression is a "chemical imbalance in the brain" despite no evidence supporting this).

Because of this, these mass marketed 'blockbuster' drugs frequently cause far more harm than any benefit they can provide. As such, members of the population are typically on multiple drugs like this (e.g., statins for "high" cholesterol), this results in healthcare costs continually going up while the general populace becomes sicker and sicker.

This downhill spiral needs to stop, and for the first time in my lifetime, the political will to acknowledge and address the harms overprescribed pharmaceutical drugs are inflicting upon society at last exists (e.g., consider RFK's statements on antidepressants).

For things to shift, it is imperative for each of us to begin openly discussing these taboo subjects and make those we care about be aware of the real risks from pharmaceutical medications doctors rarely warn us about. I thank each of you for doing that and helping to end this; far too many people I know have had their lives ruined by SSRI antidepressants.

Author's Note: This is an abridged version of a longer article which discusses the above points in much more detail (e.g., who benefits from SSRIs, how to safely withdraw from them) along with reviewing alternative treatment options such as psychedelic assisted psychotherapy.

That article and its additional references can be read here. Additionally, a companion article about the depression industry (e.g., how marketers managed to convince everyone they were depressed) and effective natural therapies for depression can be read here, while a companion article about the anxiety industry, natural therapies for anxiety, and the dangers of benzodiazepines can be read here.

A Note from Dr. Mercola About the Author

A Midwestern Doctor (AMD) is a board-certified physician from the Midwest and a longtime reader of Mercola.com. I appreciate AMD's exceptional insight on a wide range of topics and am grateful to share it. I also respect AMD's desire to remain anonymous since AMD is still on the front lines treating patients. To find more of AMD's work, be sure to check out The Forgotten Side of Medicine on Substack.