Latest news with #Citalopram
Daily Mail
03-05-2025
- Daily Mail
World champion bagpiper who went on drunken wrecking spree caught by cops - after his £45k electric car turned him in
A world champion bagpiper caused tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage during a drunken wrecking spree in his £45,000 electric car. Accountant Jonathan Greenlees smashed into four other cars - including the same one twice - while he was more than three times over the limit. It was Greenlees' own hi-tech Polestar car which first alerted the police to him crashing while the sound of several loud bangs brought witnesses out into the street. Greenlees admitted driving dangerously and drunk while he was supposed to be staying at the Crieff Hydro Hotel in Perthshire on 14 April this year. The 51-year-old resigned as Finance Director of Securigroup Ltd the day after his arrest and just six months after taking up the post with the Glasgow-based company. Fiscal depute Elizabeth Hodgson told Perth Sheriff Court that the dangerous driving lasted for almost 30 minutes and was recorded in full by Greenlees' own dashcam device. She said: 'From around 11pm people in the neighbourhood and roads around Crieff heard a series of collisions and came out into the street to investigate. 'The exited their homes and found the accused sitting in the driver's seat of his vehicle, a black Polestar. Police arrived ten minutes later. It was Greenlees' own hi-tech Polestar car which first alerted the police to him crashing while the sound of several loud bangs brought witnesses out into the street. Greenlees admitted driving dangerously and drunk while he was supposed to be staying at the Crieff Hydro Hotel in Perthshire on 14 April this year. Pictured: Perth Sheriff Court 'They noticed damage to multiple vehicles and traced the accused within his vehicle and trying to start it. He was asked if he was injured and replied that he wasn't. 'He was asked to exit and it was clear he was dazed, confused and slurring his words. An ambulance attended and they assessed that he was fit for custody. 'He identified himself as the driver. The usual procedures were carried out and the accused provided a lower reading of 70 mics [limit 22 mics]. He was arrested and placed in a locked cell. 'His dashcam footage shows the entire event and lasts for about half an hour. It shows how dangerous the driving is - striking multiple vehicles, stalling and running up onto the kerb.' Defence solicitor Jim Brady told the court his client believed he had suffered a reaction to taking medicine and alcohol during the evening and could not remember what happened. He said: 'This incident came as a result of a combination of alcohol and a very unusual reaction because of medication [Citalopram] the accused was taking. 'He can't recall leaving the table, the hotel or even driving the car. He had been taking the medication for two years or longer than that and there has never been any incident where the consumption of alcohol has resulted in anything at all. 'He was going to be staying at the Crieff Hydro. He would not normally risk driving at all, having taken any drink. His colleagues told him how much he had had to drink, and it was four to five glasses of wine.' Greenlees, Wykeham Road, Glasgow, admitted driving drunk from Crieff Hydro car park, on the A822 towards Muthill and on various other roads in Crieff on 14 April. He also admitted driving dangerously and colliding with several stationary cars, driving at excessive speed, failing to maintain lane discipline, repeatedly driving on the wrong side and striking the kerb. Sheriff Alison McKay deferred sentence for social work reports, a restriction of liberty order assessment, and for the dashcam footage to be played in court. Greenlees was ordained to appear. She said: 'I would suggest he drove at the higher end of dangerousness, and put not only his own safety, but the safety of the public at risk. 'I am pretty sure all people who take anti-depressants are warned about the danger of taking alcohol at the same time. Maybe he has been getting away with it for two years.'
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Is RFK Jr. actually banning SSRIs? Here's what Floridians taking antidepressants need to know
Are antidepressants next on Trump's chopping block? President Donald Trump issued an executive order last week to establish the "Make America Healthy Again Commission" to target chronic diseases, especially mental illnesses. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will chair the committee. The order outlines ways they plan to combat chronic illness, including education on healthy lifestyles and the effects of new technological habits. The order also highlights statistics regarding America's high chronic disease percentage and lower life expectancy compared to other countries. "To fully address the growing health crisis in America, we must re-direct our national focus, in the public and private sectors, toward understanding and drastically lowering chronic disease rates and ending childhood chronic disease," the order states. " … We must restore the integrity of the scientific process by protecting expert recommendations from inappropriate influence and increasing transparency regarding existing data. We must ensure our healthcare system promotes health rather than just managing disease." Some of the commission's goals involve targeting mental health and the use of antidepressants. Here's what to know. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, also called SSRIs, are one of the most prescribed antidepressants. They can treat symptoms of depression and other conditions, such as generalized anxiety. The Mayo Clinic explains how SSRIs work, noting that serotonin is one of many chemical messengers in the brain called neurotransmitters, which carry signals between nerve cells in the brain. "After carrying a signal between brain cells, serotonin usually is taken back into those cells, a process called reuptake. But SSRIs block this process," the clinic writes. "Blocking reuptake makes more serotonin available to help pass messages between brain cells. SSRIs are called selective because they mainly affect serotonin, not other neurotransmitters." The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved these SSRIs to treat depression: Citalopram (Celexa) Escitalopram (Lexapro) Fluoxetine (Prozac) Paroxetine (Paxil) Sertraline (Zoloft) SSRIs are a specific type of antidepressant. Antidepressants are common prescription medications that can help treat depression and other conditions, such as anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, according to the Cleveland Clinic. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 8.3% of U.S. adults ages 18 or older had a major depressive episode in 2021; for those aged 18-25, this rate jumped to 18.6%. The monthly antidepressant dispensing rate for young people increased 66.3% from January 2016 to December 2022, according to a 2024 study in the journal Pediatrics. Several types of antidepressants target specific neurotransmitters, including: Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) Serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) Norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitors (NDRIs) Tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants (TCAs) Serotonin antagonists and reuptake inhibitors (SARIs) Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) As of now, no. The executive order says it will address the possible overmedication of children and the risks of antidepressants. One of the commission's goals is to "assess the prevalence of and threat posed by the prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and weight-loss drugs." According to NBC News, some SSRIs are approved for children starting at ages 6 to 10 depending on their condition; however, they are far more commonly used by adults than minors. Kennedy has been vocal about his distrust for antidepressants; however, many health experts claim he is spreading misinformation about their drugs' impacts. In 2024, Kennedy speculated that antidepressant use could explain the rise of school shootings, despite a lack of scientific evidence to support such claims. 'There's no time in American history or human history that kids were going to schools and shooting their classmates,' Kennedy told the comedian Bill Maher on an episode of the podcast 'Club Random With Bill Maher' in April 2024. 'It happened, you know, it really started happening conterminous with the introduction of these drugs, with Prozac and the other drugs.' When asked about this during a hearing with the Senate Finance Committee last month, he lacked a clear response on whether he stood by his claims. 'It should be studied along with other potential culprits,' he said, adding, 'I just want to have good science.' Kennedy also compared serotonin uptake inhibitors SSRIs to heroin addiction. 'Listen, I know people, including members of my family, who've had a much worse time getting off of SSRIs than people have getting off heroin,' he said. USA TODAY interviewed psychiatric nurse practitioner Sean Leonard who disagreed with any comparison between SSRIs and heroin. 'Serotonin receptor sites versus the opiate receptor sites is night and day,' Leonard says. 'It's so hard to come off an opiate. Your brain craves it, your body craves it; serotonin, not so much.' USA TODAY contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Trump targets antidepressants in executive order. What to know
