Massachusetts girl who texted boyfriend to commit suicide was on antidepressants (and so was he)

Thursday, August 04, 2016 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: antidepressants, suicide, side effects

---

(NaturalNews) Are pharmaceuticals to blame for the tragic suicide of Conrad Roy III, an 18-year-old from Massachusetts whose case gained worldwide notoriety after it was revealed that his supposed friend provoked him to take his own life? A lawyer in the case is now arguing yes, noting that both teens had been taking prescription antidepressants at the time when the tragedy occurred.

The highest court in Massachusetts has already decided that Michelle Carter, Conrad's perpetrator, should face charges of involuntary manslaughter for her role in Roy's death. Text messages between the two show that Carter egged Roy on, encouraging him to "just do it." At times when Roy was hesitant in following through, Carter apparently badgered him, offering up ideas on what to try if carbon monoxide poisoning failed to get the job done.

"You always say you're gonna do it, but you never do," Carter reportedly wrote in a text to Roy, advising him to "try the bag or hanging" if asphyxiation with chemical poison didn't work. "I just want to make sure tonight is the real thing."

Psychiatric drugs made Carter insane, defense claims

Carter's lawyers claim that she was just trying to help Roy with his mental issues, and shouldn't be held accountable for his death. With that defense out the window -- Carter vulgarly demanded over text that Roy get back in his truck after he got scared and tried to leave the carbon monoxide-filled cabin -- they're now trying to position the case to plead insanity.

Since both individuals had apparently been taking citalopram (Celexa) at the time when the incident occurred, Carter's legal defense is now arguing that the mind-altering effects of these drugs are to blame for Roy's suicide – this after earlier claiming that Carter was somehow "brainwashed" into participating in the horrible incident.

Citalopram is an antidepressant drug that's known to increase users' risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and there have been plenty of other incidents in the past where users have had suicidal or homicidal thoughts, or engaged in suicidal or homicidal acts, while under the influence of these drugs.

"The defense needs to have these studies reviewed by its experts as to how this drug may have played into the defendant's thinking and conduct during the calendar year of 2014 and how it might affect her thought process and behavior," Joseph Cataldo, Carter's lawyer, wrote in one of the 22 motions he recently filed seeking evidence in the case.

Antidepressants are a menace to society

Cataldo claims Roy had previously attempted suicide two years prior, and had been in and out of hospitals and doctors' offices where he had apparently been treated for mental illness. This, the defense claims, warrants further inquiry into the role that antidepressants may have played in further damaging the mental state of Roy, and somehow that of Carter as well. Cataldo is calling for a forensics expert to evaluate the evidence he's presented.

And yet, it's already been revealed that Carter knew full well what she was doing at the time, and even tried to cover it up after the fact. She apparently texted Roy's sister after her brother's suicide and tried to play dumb, as if she was unaware that it had even occurred.

"Like, honestly I could have stopped it," Carter wrote callously in a text to some of her other friends several months after Roy's suicide.

Arguments over Cataldo's evidentiary motions will take place on September 2, and those of the suppression motion on October 14. If everything goes as planned, Carter could go to trial as early as December.

Sources for this article include:

Boston.com

DailyMail.co.uk

PsychDrugDhooters.com