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Home » Library 11 Benzodiazepines & Aggression, Suicide, Violence

Library 11 Benzodiazepines & Aggression, Suicide, Violence

11     Benzodiazepines & Aggression, Suicide, Violence

Table of Contents

11.1    Animal Studies. 1

11.2    Neurophysiology. 1

11.3    Epidemiology. 1

11.4    Aggressive  Behavior 1

11.5    Suicidality. 2

11.6    Violence. 4

11.7    Violence:  Gun. 4

11.8    Violence:  Homicide. 5

11.9    Violence:  Intimate  Partner 5

11.10     Benzodiazepine  &  Aggression / Violence / Suicidality by Subpopulation. 5

 

National Guideline Alliance 2005    Violence and Aggression: Short-Term Management in Mental Health, Health and Community Settings

 

11.1  Animal Studies

 

Gourley SL, Debold JF, Yin W, et al. Benzodiazepines and heightened aggressive behavior in rats: reduction by GABA(A)/alpha(1) receptor antagonists. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2005;178(2-3):232-40.  Abstract

Miczek KA, Weerts EM, DeBold JF. Alcohol, benzodiazepine-GABAA receptor complex and aggression: ethological analysis of individual differences in rodents and primates. J Stud Alcohol Suppl. 1993;11:170-9.  Abstract

Miczek KA, Weerts EM, Tornatzky W, et al. Alcohol and “bursts” of aggressive behavior: ethological analysis of individual differences in rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1992;107(4):551-63.  Abstract

 

11.2  Neurophysiology

 

Birger M, Swartz M, Cohen D, et al. Aggression: the testosterone-serotonin link. Isr Med Assoc J. 2003;5(9):653-8.  Abstract

Coccaro EF, Kavoussi RJ, Hauger RL, et al. Cerebrospinal fluid vasopressin levels: correlates with aggression and serotonin function in personality-disordered subjects. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1998;55(8):708-14.  Abstract

Lee R, Petty F, Coccaro EF. Cerebrospinal fluid GABA concentration: relationship with impulsivity and history of suicidal behavior, but not aggression, in human subjects. J Psychiatr Res. 2009;43(4):353-9.  Abstract

 

11.3  Epidemiology

 

Frost J, Slørdal L, Vege Å, Nordrum IS. Forensic autopsies in a naturalistic setting in Norway: autopsy rates and toxicological findings. Forensic Sci Int. 2012;223(1-3):353-8.  Abstract

 

11.4  Aggressive  Behavior

 

Azcarate CL. Minor tranquilizers in the treatment of aggression. J Nerv Ment Dis. 1975;160(2-1):100-7.  Abstract

Ben-Porath DD, Taylor SP. The effects of diazepam (valium) and aggressive disposition on human aggression: an experimental investigation. Addict Behav. 2002;27(2):167-77.  Abstract

Berman ME, Jones GD, McCloskey MS. The effects of diazepam on human self-aggressive behavior. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2005;178(1):100-6.  Abstract

Fava M. Psychopharmacologic treatment of pathologic aggression. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 1997;20(2):427-51.  Abstract

Fond G, Boyer L, Favez M, et al. Medication and aggressiveness in real-world schizophrenia. Results from the FACE-SZ dataset. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2016;233(4):571-8.  Abstract

Gillet C, Polard E, Mauduit N, Allain H. Acting out and psychoactive substances: alcohol, drugs, illicit substances. Encephale. 2001;27(4):351-9.  Abstract

Goedhard LE, Stolker JJ, Heerdink ER, et al. Pharmacotherapy for the treatment of aggressive behavior in general adult psychiatry: A systematic review. J Clin Psychiatry. 2006;67(7):1013-24.  Abstract

Hughes DH, Kleespies PM. Treating aggression in the psychiatric emergency service. J Clin Psychiatry. 2003;64 Suppl 4:10-5.  Abstract

Humble F, Berk M. Pharmacological management of aggression and violence. Hum Psychopharmacol. 2003;18(6):423-36.  Abstract

Jones, KA, Nielsen S, Bruno R, et al. Benzodiazepines – their role in aggression and why GPs should prescribe with caution. Aust Fam Physician. 2011;40(11):862-5.  Article

Perkins AM, Leonard AM, Weaver K, et al. A dose of ruthlessness: interpersonal moral judgment is hardened by the anti-anxiety drug lorazepam. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2013;142(3):612-20.  Abstract

Rodgers RJ, Waters AJ. Benzodiazepines and their antagonists: a pharmacoethological analysis with particular reference to effects on “aggression”. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1985;9(1):21-35.  Abstract

Uzun S, Kozumplik O. Reinforcement of irritability during therapy with benzodiazepines. Psychiatr Danub. 2011;23(1):129-30.  Article

Volavka J, Citrome L, Huertas D. Update on the biological treatment of aggression. Actas Esp Psiquiatr. 2006;34(2):123-35.  Abstract

Weisman AM, Berman ME, Taylor SP. Effects of clorazepate, diazepam, and oxazepam on a laboratory measurement of aggression in men. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 1998;13(4):183-8. Abstract

Wilkinson CJ. Effects of diazepam (Valium) and trait anxiety on human physical aggression and emotional state. J Behav Med. 1985;8(1):101-14.  Abstract

 

11.5  Suicidality

 

Alsén M, Ekedahl A, Löwenhielm P, et al. Medicine self-poisoning and the sources of the drugs in Lund, Sweden. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1994;89(4):255-61.  Abstract

Brower KJ, McCammon RJ, Wojnar M, et al. Prescription sleeping pills, insomnia, and suicidality in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. J Clin Psychiatry. 2011;72(4):515-21.  Abstract

Buckley NA, Whyte IM, Dawson AH, et al. Self-poisoning in Newcastle, 1987-1992. Med J Aust. 1995;162(4):190-3.  Abstract

Carter GL, Whyte IM, Ball K, et al. Repetition of deliberate self-poisoning in an Australian hospital-treated population. Med J Aust. 1999;170(7):307-11.  Abstract

Coleridge J, Cameron PA, Drummer OH, McNeil JJ. Survey of drug-related deaths in Victoria. Med J Aust. 1992;157(7):459-62.  Abstract

Darke S, Duflou J, Torok M. Drugs and violent death: comparative toxicology of homicide and non-substance toxicity suicide victims. Addiction. 2009;104(6):1000-5.  Abstract

Darke S, Ross J, Lynskey M, Teesson M. Attempted suicide among entrants to three treatment modalities for heroin dependence in the Australian Treatment Outcome Study (ATOS): prevalence and risk factors. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2004;73(1):1-10.  Abstract

Dodds TJ. Prescribed benzodiazepines and suicide risk: a review of the literature. Prim Care Companion CNS Disord. 2017;19(2).  Abstract

Drummer OH, Ranson DL. Sudden death and benzodiazepines. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 1996;17(4):336-42.  Abstract

Ericsson HR, Holmgren P, Jakobsson SW, et al. Benzodiazepine findings in autopsy material. A study shows interacting factors in fatal cases. Lakartidningen. 1993;90(45):3954-7.  Abstract

Isacsson G, Holmgren P, Druid H, Bergman U. Psychotropics and suicide prevention. Implications from toxicological screening of 5281 suicides in Sweden 1992-1994. Br J Psychiatry. 1999;174:259-65.  Abstract

Joughin N, Tata P, Collins M, et al. In-patient withdrawal from long-term benzodiazepine use. Br J Addict. 1991;86(4):449-55.  Abstract

Lee D, Delcher C, Maldonado-Molina MM, et al. Manners of death in drug-related fatalities in Florida. J Forensic Sci. 2016;61(3):735-42.  Abstract

Matsumoto T. Current situation of suicide in Japan, and what pharmacists contribute to suicide prevention. Yakugaku Zasshi. 2013;133(6):599-615.  Abstract

McCall WV, Benca RM, Rosenquist PB, et al. Hypnotic medications and suicide: risk, mechanisms, mitigation, and the FDA. Am J Psychiatry. 2017;174(1):18-25.  Abstract

Mendelson WB, Rich CL. Sedatives and suicide: the San Diego study. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1993;88(5):337-41.  Abstract

Michel K, Waeber V, Valach L, et al. A comparison of the drugs taken in fatal and nonfatal self-poisoning. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1994;90(3):184-9.  Abstract

Michel K, Arestegui G, Spuhler T. Suicide with psychotropic drugs in Switzerland. Pharmacopsychiatry. 1994;27(3):114-8.  Abstract

Neale G, Smith AJ. Self-harm and suicide associated with benzodiazepine usage. Br J Gen Pract. 2007;57(538):407-8.  Article

Neutel CI, Patten SB. Risk of suicide attempts after benzodiazepine and/or antidepressant use. Ann Epidemiol. 1997;7(8):568-74.  Abstract

Pae CU, Koh JS, Lee SJ, et al. Association of sedative-hypnotic medications with suicidality. Expert Rev Neurother. 2011;11(3):345-9.  Abstract

Pigeon WR, Woosley JA, Lichstein KL. Insomnia and hypnotic medications are associated with suicidal ideation in a community population. Arch Suicide Res. 2014;18(2):170-80.  Abstract

Serfaty M, Masterton G. Fatal poisonings attributed to benzodiazepines in Britain during the 1980s. Br J Psychiatry. 1993;163:386-93.  Abstract

Ticehurst S, Carter GL, Clover KA, et al. Elderly patients with deliberate self-poisoning treated in an Australian general hospital. Int Psychogeriatr. 2002;14(1):97-105.  Abstract

Youssef NA, Rich CL. Does acute treatment with sedatives/hypnotics for anxiety in depressed patients affect suicide risk? A literature review. Ann Clin Psych. 2008;20(3):157-69.  Link

 

11.6  Violence

 

[No authors listed] Medication-induced violence others towards. Prescrire Int. 2014;23(150):153-5.  Abstract

Gillet C, Polard E, Mauduit N, Allain H. Acting out and psychoactive substances: alcohol, drugs, illicit substances. Encephale. 2001;27(4):351-9.  Abstract

Jones, KA, Nielsen S, Bruno R, et al. Benzodiazepines – their role in aggression and why GPs should prescribe with caution. Aust Fam Physician. 2011;40(11):862-5.  Article

Lewis 2015  Benzodiazepines: Psychiatry’s Weakest Link

Lynch MA, Lindsay J, Ounstead.  Tranquilizers causing aggression. Br Med J. 1975;1(5952):266.  Letter

UK Documentary on Psyh Meds and Violence. 2017

 

11.7  Violence:  Gun

 

Note:  No evidence-based literature was found. News articles below

Lazarwitz 2015  Mass Murders, Psychiatric Drugs, and Gun Control

Gun Violence Archive

Meloy 2014  7 Myths of Mass Murder

Sarich 2014  Xanax, Anti-Depressants Linked To Mass Shootings – Again

Sarich 2014  Xanax, Anti-Depressants Linked To Mass Shootings – Again

Zodeaux 2013  Once again Psychatric Medications Linked to Another Mass Shooting

 

11.8  Violence:  Homicide

 

Darke S, Duflou J, Torok M. Drugs and violent death: comparative toxicology of homicide and non-substance toxicity suicide victims. Addiction. 2009;104(6):1000-5.  Abstract

Hedlund J, Ahlner J, Kristiansson M, Sturup J. A population-based study on toxicological findings in Swedish homicide victims and offenders from 2007 to 2009. Forensic Sci Int. 2014;244:25-9.  Abstract

La Harpe R, Mohamed NB, Burkhardt S. Gunshot deaths in Geneva, Switzerland: 2001 to 2010. Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2013;34(3):248-52.  Abstract

Tiihonen J, Lehti M, Aaltonen M. Psychotropic drugs and homicide: a prospective cohort study from Finland. World Psychiatry. 2015;14(2):245-7.  Article

Vuori E, Pelander A, Rasanen I, et al. A rare case of serial killing by poisoning. Drug Test Anal. 2013;5(9-10):725-9.  Abstract

 

11.9  Violence:  Intimate  Partner

 

Howard LM, Oram S, Galley H, et al. Domestic violence and perinatal mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Med. 2013;10(5):e1001452.  Article

Trevillion K, Oram S, Feder G, Howard LM. Experiences of domestic violence and mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2012;7(12):e51740.  Article

 

11.10              Benzodiazepine  &  Aggression / Violence / Suicidality by Subpopulation

 

Armed Services / Veterans

 

Addict

 

Cancer

 

Cardiovascular Disease

 

Care Facilities

 

Cognitive Dysfunction

 

Criminal Justice

 

Elderly

Carsten A, Waern M, Holmgren P, Allebeck P. The role of benzodiazepines in elderly suicides. Scan J Pub Health. 2003;31(3):224-8.  Abstract

 

Ethnicity

 

African-American

 

Asian

 

Caucasian

 

Hispanic

 

Native American

 

Pacific Island

 

Health Care Providers

Gold KJ, Sen A, Schwenk TL. Details on suicide among US physicians: data from the National Violent Death Reporting System. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2013;35(1):45-9.  Abstract

 

Hepatic Disease

 

HIV / AIDS

 

LGBT

 

Men

 

Pain

 

Palliative Care – End of Life

 

Pediatric

 

Psychiatric Disease

 

Renal Disease

 

Sleep Disorders

 

Sleep Apnea

 

Surgical

 

Swallowing Disorders

 

Women

 

Perinatal

 

Nursing