Why did Eric take his medication?

It's something that's been on my mind lately. I think no matter which way you slice it, it's highly likely that Eric was either lying to his psychologist or was otherwise hiding details from him. So with that fact established, Eric gets prescribed Zoloft, and later, Luvox, both of which will be unlikely to help him in any capacity since he's been dishonest. He hates it. We know he hates it, because in his journal he complains that the pills are to turn him into another brainless member of society that he hates so much.

But the autopsy report suggested that Eric was taking his medication up until the very end. So I ask, why? Did Eric take it to keep up appearances? Did he take it in the hopes that he was having an adverse effect that would help him kill others? I know Brooks claimed he took it inconsistently on purpose, but as usual, this has to be taken with a grain of salt*. We know based on what Eric wrote in his journals that he didn't want the pills to make him better, because he equated "getting better" with "submit to society", and again, he knowingly lied or held back information from the psychologist, so even if he did want treatment, it's not going to be the treatment he needs. So what gives?

*Now that I've said this, I ask kindly that this thread does not derail into a tangent about how Brooks is a dishonest creep. It's been well established and we don't need to go over it again here.

my guess on this is that most SSRIs (including Zoloft and Luvox) include among their side effects hallucinations and vivid dreams; Eric used to be very imaginative and talked several times (especially online) about his surreal daydreaming adventures in gloomy and abandoned lands. Maybe he didn't choose to drop out of his medication because he felt that Luvox could have enhanced his perception of reality, or perhaps all of this hyper-realistic imagery helped him to keep up with his rage. Who knows...

If I had to guess, I'd say that he used the SSRI medication to put a damper on some of his feelings, such as his anger and anxiety issues.
Although the medication would of never changed the final outcome, I think he possibly felt that it could make life at least a little more bearable up until the shooting.
Maybe deep down he didn't like being full of rage, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts 24/7, but then again who would.

It must of had some positive effects since he did take it up until his suicide.

SSRI's take time to build up to therapeutic levels in the body, so although its possible, its highly unlikely that Eric just took it here and there for the levels found in his autopsy.
With that said, Luvox has a 36-60 hour half-life, so it's possible he stopped taking it up to a week prior, and would of still had therapeutic levels in his system.
Maybe he stopped taking it prior to the shooting in the hopes that any rage the medication was repressing would come back in full force, who knows.

As well all know, Eric and Brooks contradicted themselves all the time, so as you stated, I'd take it all with a grain of salt.
It seems like Eric was living a miserable existence for the most part, so although he might of not liked the idea of being medicated, the benefits might of outweighed the risks to him.

slippy123 wrote:

If I had to guess, I'd say that he used the SSRI medication to put a damper on some of his feelings, such as his anger and anxiety issues.
Although the medication would of never changed the final outcome, I think he possibly felt that it could make life at least a little more bearable up until the shooting.

Maybe deep down he didn't like being full of rage, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts 24/7, but then again who would.
It must of had some positive effects since he did take it up until his suicide.

SSRI's take time to build up to therapeutic levels in the body, so although its possible, its highly unlikely that Eric just took it here and there for the levels found in his autopsy.
With that said, Luvox has a 36-60 hour half-life, so it's possible he stopped taking it up to a week prior, and would of still had therapeutic levels in his system.

As well all know, Eric and Brooks contradicted themselves all the time, so as you stated, I'd take it all with a grain of salt.
It seems like Eric was living a miserable existence for the most part, so although he might of not liked the idea of being medicated, the benefits might of outweighed the risks to him.

I agree with this opinion on the matter. I think Eric took the medications to lessen his feelings of depression and anger despite the fact he hated being medicated. Eric was very contradictory.

I know Eric was 18, but he was still a high school student living with his parents. If he wasn't taking his medication as prescribed I feel that would be something hard to hide from his folks. They'd have plenty of questions imo as to why he wasn't taking his medicine.

He stated to his psychiatrist/psychologist that he was experiencing suicidal and homicidal ideation. They thought it was because of the medication. Maybe they told him this, and he wanted to keep taking it to keep experiencing homicidal thoughts. We know he enjoyed being homicidal: “I’m full of hate, and I love it!”

Either that or he wanted to stop feeling depressed, and kept hoping the medication would work.

That's an interesting question, and you all have brought up some very good points.

Eric seemed to be a rule-follower. He was a good student, he was a model employee, he was so good at his diversion requirements that he was released early. So maybe, when he was told to take the medicine, he was a good patient, too, and just did as he was told.

I too wondered about this when I read his autopsy. What’s the point in him taking it when he knew he’d be dead? My guess was he took it by habit. The bottle was found next to his sink (if I recall correctly). Maybe just like brushing his teeth every morning he took it as routine.

LadyStardust wrote:

That's an interesting question, and you all have brought up some very good points.

Eric seemed to be a rule-follower. He was a good student, he was a model employee, he was so good at his diversion requirements that he was released early. So maybe, when he was told to take the medicine, he was a good patient, too, and just did as he was told.

I think this is a pretty good point. I often wonder why Eric was such a good student and "Type A" about his grades if he knew he would die before graduation? Probably just to keep parents and teachers off his ass and remain normal so he could go NBK. In my personal experience when I was prescribed Paxil which is an anti-depressant as a teen, I didn't want to take that shit but my single parent ran that med like a prison, she made sure I swallowed that son of a bitch, Idk if Eric's parents were that way but maybe they just tried to make sure he took it.

dereknocturnal wrote:

LadyStardust wrote:

That's an interesting question, and you all have brought up some very good points.

Eric seemed to be a rule-follower. He was a good student, he was a model employee, he was so good at his diversion requirements that he was released early. So maybe, when he was told to take the medicine, he was a good patient, too, and just did as he was told.

I think this is a pretty good point. I often wonder why Eric was such a good student and "Type A" about his grades if he knew he would die before graduation? Probably just to keep parents and teachers off his ass and remain normal so he could go NBK. In my personal experience when I was prescribed Paxil which is an anti-depressant as a teen, I didn't want to take that shit but my single parent ran that med like a prison, she made sure I swallowed that son of a bitch, Idk if Eric's parents were that way but maybe they just tried to make sure he took it.

Most likely to keep his parents off his back.
They were already on him about paying car insurance, joining the military, and a few other things.

Keeping his grades up was one less thing his parents could get on his case about.