Barbara had been taking Prozac for the previous two weeks. Kristine Marie Cushing, age 39, had been separated from her husband for several months. After a plea of insanity, she was committed to a mental institution. She had been taking Prozac. The explosive nature of these drugs is predictable.
Studies show that they can cause a condition known as akathisia.
Akathisia is to violence what a match is to gasoline. This condition has been reported in one out of 16 Prozac users, but its incidence is likely under-reported because Prozac also produces mania, hypomania, anxiety and restlessness, which are first cousins of akathisia. The defenders of Prozac say that millions are being helped by it, but this claim is spurious. In the clinical trials submitted to the FDA for registration, Eli Lilly studied the drug in less than 300 people and for only four or six weeks. However, one out of every seven participants dropped out of the study because of side effects of the drug.