In the span of 10 days three horrific terror incidents were carried out in Europe by killers who had previously received psychiatric treatment.
84 Dead in Nice, France
On July 14, 2016 during a Bastille Day holiday celebration, 31 year old Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove his rented truck off the street and onto a pedestrian walkway in Nice, France deliberately killing 84 people and injuring over 200 before being killed by police.
The man’s father, who still lives in Tunisia where Mohamed was raised, gave an interview to the French TV station BMF in which he insisted his son was mentally ill and suffered from severe depression.
The father described his son’s life back in Tunisia.
“He’d get angry and shout and broke everything in front of him. He was violent and very ill. We took him to the doctor and he was put on drugs.
“Whenever there was a crisis we took him back again.
“He was always alone. Always silent, refusing to talk. Even in the street he wouldn’t greet people.” [1]
Another newspaper quoted the father as saying, “He had some difficult times, I took him to a psychiatrist, he took his treatments and he said he had a serious mental illness.
“For four years, from 2002 to 2004 he had problems, he had a nervous breakdown. He would get very angry, and would break things for no reason, he was put on medication.” [2]
Mohamed’s violent rages continued to increase despite his psychiatric drug treatments; he reportedly received a cocktail of drugs for schizophrenia, alcoholism and depression [3]
Chemceddine Hamouda, a psychiatrist who treated Mohamed in 2004 described it this way:
“He had behavioral problems with his parents at that time … he was very aggressive with them.
“Sometimes he had tried to lock his parents in a room in their house.
“He had problems with his body. He said: “Why am I thin? I’m not happy with my body.”
“I just gave him some pills to calm these behavioral issues and this aggression.” [4]
Clearly psychiatric pills did not prevent Mohamed’s violent behavior from exploding on Bastille Day.
9 Dead in Munich, Germany
On 22 July, 2016 an 18year-old man named David Ali Sonboly deliberately targeted young people in a Munich shopping mall killing 9 and injured 35 before taking his own life.
He mostly targeted other young people; 8 of the victims were between the ages of 14 to 20. The gunman used a fake Facebook account set up in another person’s name to lure young people into the McDonalds restaurant at the mall with the offer of free food.
Police found he was carrying 300 additional rounds in his backpack.
Police also reported that the gunman had been receiving psychiatric and medical care to help him cope with depression but that it would take them some time to find out if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of his rampage. [5]
Later at a press conference Robert Heimberger, president of the Bavarian state criminal police office revealed more details.
“He appears to have planned this act since last summer.”
“He completely occupied himself with this act of rampage.” [6]
Officials found in the gunman’s belongings numerous documents on mass killings, including a book entitled Rampage in My Mind — Why Students Kill.
Officials also revealed that the gunman had been under psychiatric care in a hospital for two months in 2015. Munich prosecutor Thomas Steinkraus-Koch stated they had found documents in his home confirming that David Ali suffered from mental illness, including depression and anxiety. [7]
The New York Times reported a few other details. David Ali had continued as an outpatient following his two months of inpatient psychiatric treatment and that the prescription medicine found at his home was for depression. [8]
Suicide Bomber in Ansbach, Germany
On 24 July 2016 a 27 year old man named Mohamed Deleel set out with a rucksack packed with a bomb and many metal shrapnel parts and tried to get into a music festival in Ansbach where 2,500 people were gathered.
Denied entry for lack of a ticket Mohamed took second best and set off his bomb in front of a wine bar injuring 12 people and killing himself in the process.
Police were aware that he possessed drugs and knew he had spent time in a psychiatric facility. Mohamed had attempted suicide twice before.[9]
Michael Schrotberger, Ansbach prosecutor stated the attacker had suffered episodes of depression and Fertinger, the Nuremberg police chief, said Mohamed had made superficial suicide attempts by cutting his arms, resulting in him receiving psychiatric care. [10]
Had the concert ticket taker been more sympathetic and waved Mohamed on into the music festival the damage would have been enormous.
It is well documented that psychiatric drugs routinely prescribed for depression and other mental conditions encourage rather than relieve tendencies toward violence and suicide. Warning labels proclaim this fact.
But when psychiatrists see the first drug doesn’t seem to work they either increase the dose or add more drugs in hopes a cocktail will do the job.
The British Journal of Psychiatry published a study that found of 139 cases receiving antipsychotic drugs 96 of these cases were given multiple drugs or excessive dosages in violation of guidelines. [11]
Today it would be a rare exception to find a mass killer who had never been in psychiatric hands. Obviously psychiatrists cannot hold their patients destructive impulses at bay with drugs that increase the desire to cause violent death to self and others.
 
[1] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3693227/Brother-reveals-violent-drug-crazed-ISIS-soldier-Mohamed-Lahouaiej-Bouhlel-smuggled-84-000-family-Tunisia-DAYS-murdering-84-Nice.html
[2] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/nice-terror-attack-killer-mohamed-lahouaiej-bouhlel-sent-84000-to-family-in-tunisia-days-before-a7141221.html
[3] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3694282/Brought-weapons-s-good-equipment-Terrifying-final-text-messages-Bastille-Day-killer-sent-minutes-murdered-84-people.html
[4] Ibid
[5] http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-23/mystery-over-munich-shooters-motive-no-connection-isis
[6] http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/24/europe/germany-munich-shooting/
[7] Ibid
[8] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/world/europe/munich-gunman-portrayed-as-having-planned-attack-for-a-year.html
[9] https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1496592/syrian-migrant-denied-asylum-in-germany-injures-12-in-ansbach-after-blowing-himself-up-at-bar-near-music-festival-had-video-pledging-allegiance-to-isis-on-his-phone/
[10] https://ca.news.yahoo.com/one-dead-10-injured-blast-near-nuremberg-germany-001700976.html
[11] http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/187/3/243