{"id":14,"date":"2007-07-22T11:34:20","date_gmt":"2007-07-22T18:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cchrstl.org\/wordpress\/?p=14"},"modified":"2024-07-14T05:44:37","modified_gmt":"2024-07-14T10:44:37","slug":"pro-wrestler-chris-benoit-another-tragic-example-of-the-link-between-psychiatric-drugs-and-senseless-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cchrstl.org\/wordpress\/2007\/07\/22\/pro-wrestler-chris-benoit-another-tragic-example-of-the-link-between-psychiatric-drugs-and-senseless-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-Wrestler Chris Benoit: Another Tragic Example of the Link Between Psychiatric Drugs and Senseless Violence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pro-Wrestler Chris Benoit: Another Tragic Example of the Link Between Psychiatric Drugs and Senseless Violence<\/strong>
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New\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 information fuels call for full disclosure by Virginia Tech panel and federal investigation into drug-induced homicide
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18 July \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a007
\nFor immediate \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0release
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Toxicology reports today \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0revealed that pro wrestler Chris Benoit, who murdered his wife and \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0seven-year-old son before committing suicide last month, was taking psychiatric \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0drugs (Xanax), in addition to steroids and painkillers at the time of \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0the murder\/suicide.
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The Citizens Commission on \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0Human Rights, a psychiatric watchdog group, says this revelation has \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0once again focused the nation’s attention on the increasing correlation \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0between psychiatric drugs and acts of seemingly inexplicable \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0violence.
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As with the Virginia Tech \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0shooter Seung-Hui Cho, the public has been anxious to learn about Benoit’s \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0prescription drug use, which has now been made public.<\/p>\n

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However, \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0the reports on the investigation into Cho’s mental health treatment \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0history and records have been disturbingly inconsistent. The public has a \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0right to know the facts about what may have caused Cho to commit these \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0atrocities, yet contradictory statements and undisclosed information have \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0increasingly obscured the facts and left the public confused about the extent \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0of Cho’s psychiatric treatment history and prescription drug \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0use.
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On April 18, The New York Times \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0reported, officials said prescription medications related to the \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0treatment of psychological problems had been found among Mr. Cho’s effects.\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0However, investigators later denied that any prescription medication was \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0found among Cho’s belongings, yet The New York Times<\/em> was \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0obviously given this information by someone. Moreover, Cho’s roommate, Joseph \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0Aust, still maintains that Cho took prescription drugs as part of his morning \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0routine, though no mention has been made of what prescription drugs he was taking.
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Although officials have \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0reported that Cho’s toxicology results did not show psychiatric drugs in \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0Cho’s system, the actual toxicology reports have not been released. \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0Without viewing the actual toxicology report, the public has no way \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0to know whether tissue samples were tested to see if Cho was in withdrawal \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0from antidepressants or other drugs at the time of the murder\/suicide \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0which would explain Cho’s roommate’s statements that he witnessed Cho \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0taking prescription medications. This is an important factor, seeing that \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0several psychiatric drugs will not show up in blood tests even if the \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0person was in severe withdrawal from the drugs, so tissue samples must be \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0tested to accurately determine if drugs were a factor.
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It was widely reported \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0that Cho never received psychiatric counseling following his\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0recommended outpatient treatment, yet it has now been revealed by Dr. \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0Les Saltzberg, director of the New River Valley Community Services Board, that \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0Cho did in fact show up for mandated outpatient treatment. Also, James W. \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0Stewart III, the state mental health inspector general, confirmed that Cho \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0made an appointment with the Cook Counseling Center, and that treatment \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0generally begins in that first session. What was the extent of that \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0treatment? What do Cho’s medical records reveal? Had Cho taken prescription drugs? \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0Was he in withdrawal from psychiatric drugs?
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In order to truly \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0understand what is causing the recent spate of school shootings, psychiatric drug \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0use must be fully investigated, given the fact that eight school shooters \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0under the influence of antidepressants have resulted in 29 dead, 62 wounded \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0since 1998.
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International drug \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0warnings substantiate the need for a full investigation into the \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0psychiatric drug-violence link; 11 international drug regulatory agencies have \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0warned of side effects associated with psychiatric drugs. The U.S. Food \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0and Drug Administration and drug regulators in the UK, Australia, Canada, \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0Japan and Germany have issued warnings that antidepressants and other \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0psychiatric drugs can cause suicide, homicidal ideation, hostility, psychosis, \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0psychotic depression, akathisia (severe restlessness), hypomania \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0(abnormal excitement), agitation, anxiety, irritability, impulsivity, mania \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0and hallucinations.
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The public has a right to \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0full disclosure regarding the psychiatric drug use of Seung-Hui Cho and \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0all the other school shooters whose medical records have not been released \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0before the psychiatric\/pharmaceutical industry calls for more kids being \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0put on potentially violence-inducing drugs, creating more time bombs in \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0our nation’s schools.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pro-Wrestler Chris Benoit: Another Tragic Example of the Link Between Psychiatric Drugs and Senseless Violence New\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0 information fuels call for full disclosure by Virginia Tech panel and federal investigation into drug-induced homicide 18 July \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a007 For immediate \u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0release Toxicology reports … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-muddy-river-newsletter","category-press-releases"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6NMpC-e","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cchrstl.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cchrstl.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cchrstl.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cchrstl.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cchrstl.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cchrstl.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cchrstl.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cchrstl.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cchrstl.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}