Violence and Psychiatric Drugs: Hope or Horror?

$40
April 28, 2023
3pm - 5pm Eastern US
2 Continuing Education Credits

Webinar recording available - $20

This webinar explores the relationship between psychiatric drugs and acts of violence at a time when what is trending, sadly, includes nearly weekly reports, discussions, and mourning about mass shootings. The presenters in this webinar address a lingering and vital concern about this dangerous liaison between psychiatric drugs and violence that has researchers and clinicians from opposing camps disseminating information to the public in two opposing directions:

Take these medications to manage moods so as to prevent violence
and 
Don’t take these medications or you could become violent

Among the possible questions we explore include: Do psychiatric drugs cause self and other violence, including mass shootings, or are the same psychiatric drugs seen as ways to violate patterns of violence in hopes of bringing safety and peace to a weary and terrified world where violence has run amuck? Do violence and psychiatric drugs have a causal or correlated relationship and what are the implications either way? How do psychiatric drugs fit into incidents of unprovoked violence? If we cease taking psychiatric drugs, what is to become of violence and how we care for it?

We also address challenges to this discussion from counterpoint perspectives that we hear in response to this topic: “Yeah, but what about when drugs work?" "My aunt is doing just fine on them.” “How can we claim that difficulties in living are not “caused” by brain chemistry, but then claim that psych meds “cause” violent behavior?” “Are you against drugs completely?” “What do you have instead to offer and how long does it take to fix the problem?" “My husband came off the drugs and he was worse than ever; doesn’t this prove he needs them?"

Our Participants: 
 
Gail Tasch, MD:  Dr. Tasch is a board certified psychiatrist in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. She attended Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine and completed a residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She does mostly inpatient work along with consulting for adolescent residential treatment services. Because current psychiatric treatment can lead to impaired functioning and lifelong disability, she is devoting much of her career to people who have been harmed by the mental health system including legal work for people who have committed violent crimes after taking psychiatric drugs. She believes that people can live strong, powerful lives with the correct approach using psychotherapy, nutrition, and meditation. She also believes people should receive the very best treatment for mental health problems and with proper help they can live life with joy and abundance. Dr. Tasch is a member of the ISEPP Board of Directors.
 
Jeanne Stolzer, PhD:  Dr. Stolzer is a Professor of Child and Adolescent Development at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. She currently teaches infant, child, and adolescent development classes and is an internationally recognized researcher. For decades, Dr. Stolzer has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and has presented her research at the national and international levels. She has won various prestigious research and teaching awards and has been a passionate child advocate for over 35 years. Dr. Stolzer’s research interests include the connection between unprovoked mass murder and psychiatric drugs, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the meteoric rise of psychiatric diagnoses, the biocultural implications of attachment parenting, the multivariational effects of labeling children, and challenging the existing medical model which seeks to pathologize normal-range human behaviors. 
 
Todd DuBose, PhD: Dr. DuBose is the webinar discussion facilitator. He is a Professor at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. His work includes critiques of ideologies and implicit biases in standards of care that intend to help though unwittingly often harm others seeking such help. He has worked to address community and institutional violence in such cities as New York, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Chicago, as well as having taught a phenomenological way of therapeutic care in 12 countries. Todd is a licensed clinical psychologist and was a former chaplain at the famed Bellevue Hospital in New York City. He is also a Board member with ISEPP.

Objectives:
1. Participants will acquire knowledge of expanded research on the relationship between violence and psychiatric drugs that challenges a medical modeled view that is more familiar to the public mindset.

2. Participants will identify the clinical implications of how medication is viewed and utilized and gain an expanded knowledge of options of addressing these matters with individuals, families and in public dialogue.

Format:
Presentation and discussion for each speaker: 45-minute presentation from each speaker followed by a 15-minute discussion facilitated by the respondent and discussion facilitator.