Zoloft for non depressed violent convicts ...........!!!!!

[Guest guest]

Benefit to boosting criminals' serotonin

Amy Corderoy HEALTH November 17, 2010

http://www.smh.com.au/national/benefit-to-boosting-criminals-serotonin-20101116-17vzf.html

VIOLENT criminals may be less likely to reoffend if they take antidepressant medication, an Australian-first study has found.

Men recruited at three Sydney magistrates courts were given the drug Zoloft to see whether it would curb impulsiveness and irritability, which are linked to repeat offending.

All of the men had at least one conviction for a violent offence. After a three-month trial the men, who were not suffering depression, asked to continue taking the drug, saying they felt less angry and engaged in less direct and indirect physical assaults, and verbal assault.

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"Criminal behaviours are very costly for the community and the individuals," said Schofield, the study's co-author and director of the neuropsychiatry service at Hunter-New England Health. "If they benefited from medication I would see that as a win-win situation."

People with depression sometimes have low levels of the brain chemical serotonin. Low serotonin is also linked to impulsiveness and irritability in some people, which may be an underlying factor in violent acts, Associate Professor Schofield said.

The antidepressant given to the offenders, Zoloft, did not act as a sedative, he said.

Violent offenders are particularly difficult to rehabilitate. About 50 per cent of violent offenders in NSW return to prison within two years of release, the study authors wrote in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.

In the general prison population only 20 per cent of prisoners return within two years, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Professor Philip , study co-author and head of the School of Psychiatry at the University of NSW, said no previous Australian research had examined the effects of antidepressants on people who had a conviction for a violent offence.

The 32 men were recruited from magistrates courts at Burwood, Liverpool and Blacktown. All 20 men who completed the study asked to continue taking the medication, he said.

Professor was "intrigued and excited" by the results. "The study raises a lot of complex questions in terms of issues about responsibility," he said. "These sorts of studies … question how much [violent] behaviour is under the individual's control."

The team was applying to undertake a larger, randomised study to examine the effects of antidepressant medication on participants' long-term chances of reoffending.

[Guest guest]

Benefit to boosting criminals' serotonin

Amy Corderoy HEALTH November 17, 2010

http://www.smh.com.au/national/benefit-to-boosting-criminals-serotonin-20101116-17vzf.html

VIOLENT criminals may be less likely to reoffend if they take antidepressant medication, an Australian-first study has found.

Men recruited at three Sydney magistrates courts were given the drug Zoloft to see whether it would curb impulsiveness and irritability, which are linked to repeat offending.

All of the men had at least one conviction for a violent offence. After a three-month trial the men, who were not suffering depression, asked to continue taking the drug, saying they felt less angry and engaged in less direct and indirect physical assaults, and verbal assault.

Advertisement: Story continues below

"Criminal behaviours are very costly for the community and the individuals," said Schofield, the study's co-author and director of the neuropsychiatry service at Hunter-New England Health. "If they benefited from medication I would see that as a win-win situation."

People with depression sometimes have low levels of the brain chemical serotonin. Low serotonin is also linked to impulsiveness and irritability in some people, which may be an underlying factor in violent acts, Associate Professor Schofield said.

The antidepressant given to the offenders, Zoloft, did not act as a sedative, he said.

Violent offenders are particularly difficult to rehabilitate. About 50 per cent of violent offenders in NSW return to prison within two years of release, the study authors wrote in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.

In the general prison population only 20 per cent of prisoners return within two years, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Professor Philip , study co-author and head of the School of Psychiatry at the University of NSW, said no previous Australian research had examined the effects of antidepressants on people who had a conviction for a violent offence.

The 32 men were recruited from magistrates courts at Burwood, Liverpool and Blacktown. All 20 men who completed the study asked to continue taking the medication, he said.

Professor was "intrigued and excited" by the results. "The study raises a lot of complex questions in terms of issues about responsibility," he said. "These sorts of studies … question how much [violent] behaviour is under the individual's control."

The team was applying to undertake a larger, randomised study to examine the effects of antidepressant medication on participants' long-term chances of reoffending.

[Guest guest]

Benefit to boosting criminals' serotonin

Amy Corderoy HEALTH November 17, 2010

http://www.smh.com.au/national/benefit-to-boosting-criminals-serotonin-20101116-17vzf.html

VIOLENT criminals may be less likely to reoffend if they take antidepressant medication, an Australian-first study has found.

Men recruited at three Sydney magistrates courts were given the drug Zoloft to see whether it would curb impulsiveness and irritability, which are linked to repeat offending.

All of the men had at least one conviction for a violent offence. After a three-month trial the men, who were not suffering depression, asked to continue taking the drug, saying they felt less angry and engaged in less direct and indirect physical assaults, and verbal assault.

Advertisement: Story continues below

"Criminal behaviours are very costly for the community and the individuals," said Schofield, the study's co-author and director of the neuropsychiatry service at Hunter-New England Health. "If they benefited from medication I would see that as a win-win situation."

People with depression sometimes have low levels of the brain chemical serotonin. Low serotonin is also linked to impulsiveness and irritability in some people, which may be an underlying factor in violent acts, Associate Professor Schofield said.

The antidepressant given to the offenders, Zoloft, did not act as a sedative, he said.

Violent offenders are particularly difficult to rehabilitate. About 50 per cent of violent offenders in NSW return to prison within two years of release, the study authors wrote in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.

In the general prison population only 20 per cent of prisoners return within two years, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Professor Philip , study co-author and head of the School of Psychiatry at the University of NSW, said no previous Australian research had examined the effects of antidepressants on people who had a conviction for a violent offence.

The 32 men were recruited from magistrates courts at Burwood, Liverpool and Blacktown. All 20 men who completed the study asked to continue taking the medication, he said.

Professor was "intrigued and excited" by the results. "The study raises a lot of complex questions in terms of issues about responsibility," he said. "These sorts of studies … question how much [violent] behaviour is under the individual's control."

The team was applying to undertake a larger, randomised study to examine the effects of antidepressant medication on participants' long-term chances of reoffending.

[Guest guest]

Benefit to boosting criminals' serotonin

Amy Corderoy HEALTH November 17, 2010

http://www.smh.com.au/national/benefit-to-boosting-criminals-serotonin-20101116-17vzf.html

VIOLENT criminals may be less likely to reoffend if they take antidepressant medication, an Australian-first study has found.

Men recruited at three Sydney magistrates courts were given the drug Zoloft to see whether it would curb impulsiveness and irritability, which are linked to repeat offending.

All of the men had at least one conviction for a violent offence. After a three-month trial the men, who were not suffering depression, asked to continue taking the drug, saying they felt less angry and engaged in less direct and indirect physical assaults, and verbal assault.

Advertisement: Story continues below

"Criminal behaviours are very costly for the community and the individuals," said Schofield, the study's co-author and director of the neuropsychiatry service at Hunter-New England Health. "If they benefited from medication I would see that as a win-win situation."

People with depression sometimes have low levels of the brain chemical serotonin. Low serotonin is also linked to impulsiveness and irritability in some people, which may be an underlying factor in violent acts, Associate Professor Schofield said.

The antidepressant given to the offenders, Zoloft, did not act as a sedative, he said.

Violent offenders are particularly difficult to rehabilitate. About 50 per cent of violent offenders in NSW return to prison within two years of release, the study authors wrote in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.

In the general prison population only 20 per cent of prisoners return within two years, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Professor Philip , study co-author and head of the School of Psychiatry at the University of NSW, said no previous Australian research had examined the effects of antidepressants on people who had a conviction for a violent offence.

The 32 men were recruited from magistrates courts at Burwood, Liverpool and Blacktown. All 20 men who completed the study asked to continue taking the medication, he said.

Professor was "intrigued and excited" by the results. "The study raises a lot of complex questions in terms of issues about responsibility," he said. "These sorts of studies … question how much [violent] behaviour is under the individual's control."

The team was applying to undertake a larger, randomised study to examine the effects of antidepressant medication on participants' long-term chances of reoffending.