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Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and violent crime: do SSRI’s kill or cure?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

S. Sneep  and
S. Petrykiv
S. Sneep*
Affiliation:
GGZ Westelijk Noord Brabant, Psychiatry, Halsteren, Netherlands
S. Petrykiv
Affiliation:
GGZWNB, Psychiatry, Halsteren, Netherlands
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

SSRI’s are consistently associated with violent events in the adult population. However, the causality between SSRI use and violent behaviour was never found. Several recent studies draw the attention to this hypothesis while they were inspired by several mass murderers in the United States.

Objectives

A literature research on studies exploring the association between SSRI use and violent behaviour.

Methods

The authors performed a literature search (1966–2020) using PubMed and Embase to review studies where a possible link between SSRI’s and violent behaviour in adults was assessed.

Results

94 studies were identified, of which 6 studies were included. There is no association between the use of SSRI’s and violent behaviour in the general population. However, an increased hazard of violent behaviour was observed in young man and those with a history of violent crime.

Conclusions

Overall, SSRI treatment is safe in the general population. Certain subgroups can, however, be vulnerable to aggressive flare-ups, especially during on-treatment period and the first 12 weeks after drug discontinuation. Therefore, careful monitoring throughout these critical periods is strongly recommended.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

SSRIviolent behaviour
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 65 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry , June 2022 , pp. S351
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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