SSRI

Defence solicitor Bernie Balmer said Epshtein was on medication for anxiety, bipolar, depression, pain and one to lower her heart rate.

Paragraph 11 reads: “Years later, Mr Ritchie encouraged a ‘‘nervous and confused’’ woman, sitting on a ledge, shoes by her side, to follow him home. Over tea and toast, she revealed she was unhappy with medication she had been prescribed for depression. Mr Ritchie’s wife suggested she seek a second opinion. ‘‘A couple of months later she came up the path with a bottle of French champagne. We later got a Christmas card from her, and a postcard. It said ‘I’ll never forget your important intervention in my life. I am well’.

“In the wake of his death, his family searches for answers. Kathy Mott said she does not believe her son relapsed. She wonders if the antidepressants played a role in his death.”

“Now she wants others to be careful.”

“‘Just because it’s prescription drugs, doesn’t mean you can’t OD,’ she said.”

Raritan Township police were called to a single-family home in the township about 3:30 p.m. after a woman reported her husband had locked himself in the bedroom and was threatening to shoot himself. The woman told police her husband had several guns in the house and that at least two — a pistol and a rifle — were in the bedroom with him.

She said he is taking medication to combat depression and that he had been drinking. The unnamed man allegedly told his wife he would resist if police responded, according to a news release.

“There is a huge amount of secrecy and denial. We have done a really good job of scaring people out of talking about their own mental health,” he said.

Coroner: “Shooter was prescribed antidepressants.”