Key Facts:
Is there a link between psychiatric drugs and violence including suicide?
TGA issued warnings about the risk of homicidal ideation associated with the ADHD drug atomoxetine in paediatric patients.
New documentary: Prescription for Violence: Psychiatry's Deadly Side Effects.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) has launched the global release of Prescription for Violence – Psychiatry's Deadly Side Effects, a two-hour documentary presenting extensive evidence correlating violent crimes, including domestic multiple shootings and suicides, to the widespread use of psychiatric drugs.
CCHR organisations worldwide say the documentary underscores the urgent need for mandatory toxicology screening in violent crime investigations, and for the creation of a public database documenting psychiatric drugs identified in such cases.
Nearly one in five Australians took a prescription psychiatric drug in 2023–24 — many likely without being informed of serious risks including, violence, aggression, mania, suicidality and homicidal ideation.[1]
Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) Database of Adverse Event Notifications (DAEN) contains disturbing reports of violent and homicidal behaviour, including:
- A 35-year-old, whose report stated: "Dissociation and murdered his wife while on Prozac."
- A 19-year-old taking the antipsychotic Zyprexa and the antidepressant Prozac: "Patient had thoughts of killing himself which made him violent… tried to kill a security guard… had thoughts of hurting other people."
- An 18-year-old on the antidepressant Avanza: "…experienced aggression and homicidal ideation—'cut him up and feed him to the pigs."
- A 25-year-old on the antipsychotic Seroquel: "Experienced homicidal ideation, suicidal ideation, a suicide attempt, auditory hallucinations and akathisia [inability to remain motionless]… found herself at her parents' house carrying a knife with the intention to kill them."
- A 21-year-old on Seroquel who "would wake up wanting to kill himself and everybody."
- A 24-year-old on Effexor and Zyprexa: "Wanted to kill people, went into a frenzy and destroyed a shed and wall." [2]
These detailed Public Case Details are no longer publicly accessible from the TGA, raising serious transparency concerns. CCHR says this information should be publicly available as part of regulatory accountability.
More than 100 international drug regulatory agency warnings, including many issued in Australia, caution that psychiatric drugs may induce violent, hostile or aggressive behaviour in a percentage of users.
In May and June 2025, the TGA issued warnings about the risk of homicidal ideation associated with the ADHD drug atomoxetine in paediatric patients. [3] The TGA had received a report as far back as 2009 of homicidal ideation in an eight-year-old child taking the drug.[4]
Since 2006, atomoxetine has carried Australia's strongest boxed warning for suicidal thoughts and behaviour. Additional warnings followed, including one issued after the suicide of a nine-year-old child in 2013.[5] The global atomoxetine hydrochloride market was estimated at a lucrative $USD 1.2 billion in 2024.[6]
In 2024, the TGA also warned of suicidality associated with lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse), another ADHD drug. Australia's Product Information for dexamfetamine lists overdose effects including aggressiveness and suicidal or homicidal tendencies.[7]
In 2005, the TGA warned that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) carry a risk of suicidality in both children and adults. In 2016 and 2018, it warned that all antidepressants carry a risk of suicidal behaviour and suicidal thinking.[8]
A full summary of more than 130 psychiatric drug warnings issued by the TGA since 1995 is available on the CCHR Australian National Office website: https://cchr.org.au/australian-government-psychiatric-drug-warnings
A 2018 Australian survey found that more than half of hospital inpatients and one-third of community-based patients reported receiving no medicines information at all.[9]
Following its National Mental Health Inquiry, the Australian Productivity Commission recommended in 2020, that all psychiatric prescriptions include a clear statement confirming clinicians had discussed side effects and evidence-based alternatives. The Commission stated this reform should "start now"—yet it has still not been implemented. [10]
Shelley Wilkins, Executive Director of CCHR Australian National Office, said: "Not everyone who takes a psychiatric drug will become violent, but the evidence clearly shows that some will. For others, the violence turns inward, leading to self-harm or suicide. The Prescription for Violence documentary features powerful interviews with victims and families, alongside expert commentary from investigators, attorneys, psychologists and psychiatrists who link psychiatric drugs to some of the world's most devastating tragedies.
"It aims to inform those prescribed psychiatric drugs who were not told the full risks, and to alert the public to the devastating impact these drugs can have on some individuals, families and communities, and to mobilise reform through public pressure, litigation and legislation."
Viewer Advisory: Prescription for Violence is rated MA15+ Strong themes and suicide references.
