During the past ten years, we have read or heard about mothers who became violent and, in bizarre ways, killed one or more of their children. Many of these women were prescribed anti-depressants following the birth of a child and the onset of a post partum depression (PPD). In many cases, these mothers have been described as loving, caring, and well functioning women who were given prescriptions for antidepres-sant medications, especially one of the serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) types such as Prozac® or Zoloft.®

There is strong reason to believe that these SSRI anti-depressant drugs can radically alter the functioning of a person's brain chemistry and lead to changes in think-ing, emotional reactions, and behavior resulting in homicidal and/or suicidal violence. This type of unmaternal murderous behavior has been both shocking and baffling to many people. Because a plausible explanation of this appalling incomprehensible behavior is rarely, if ever provided, public reaction of both lay people and professionals to these murders is to vilify the mother. Even though there is well-documented evidence that many of these mothers were on SSRI anti-depressants and/or other powerful psychotropic drugs at the time of their crime, this fact is rarely if ever explored by journalists or other professionals. Psychiatrists hastily rush to the defence of their profession and its dependence on SSRIs and/or other powerful psychotropic drugs as the "standard of care" for depression. They are quick to deny that anti-depressant drugs can affect some people in such adverse ways.