Antidepressants and antianxiety drugs make fish reckless: “Don’t flush medicines”

Medications for the treatment of mental illness not only influence the behavior of humans, but also that of fish. For example, fish and small crustaceans become more aggressive or more passive, according to the research. “Fish can become more reckless”, explains Dirk Halet in “New facts” on Radio 1. Halet is strategic coordinator of the Vlakwa, the Flemish Knowledge Center for Water. “Such psychotropic drugs make people calmer and give them more self-confidence. A small fish that gains that same confidence and thinks it can take on the world will not easily swim away from a predatory fish and will become like a bird to the cat.”