Antidepressants and Suicide.
SSRI antidepressants cause
some people (3 to 5 percent) to experience a suicide related side
effects. These suicide side effects of antidepressants include suicidal thoughts,
suicidal gestures (typically cutting of the body), suicide
attempts and actual death by suicide.
People being treated with SSRI antidepressants have become violent and
suicidal. Others have complained of severe withdrawal reactions.
The FDA in March 2004 issued a warning for SSRI antidepressants, stating that these
antidepressants can cause suicide and
violence in children and teenagers. This FDA public health
advisory places doctors, patients and families on notice to be
particularly vigilant for signs of worsening depression or suicide
thoughts at the beginning of antidepressant therapy or whenever
the dose is changed.
The drugs listed in the FDA warning are all newer antidepressants:
Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Effexor, Celexa, Remeron, Lexapro, Luvox,
Serzone and Wellbutrin.
The FDA action follows Britain's version of the FDA citing in
December 2003 evidence of a twofold to threefold increase risk of
suicide and suicidal thinking in children and adolescents with the
SSRI antidepressants.
These two agency actions follow 16 years of long-standing
controversy about the possibility that SSRI antidepressants might induce suicide tendencies in some patients. Reports of
unusual and severe reactions with SSRI antidepressant drugs began shortly after
Prozac, the first SSRI antidepressant, was introduced in 1988.
In 1990 two Harvard researchers and psychiatrists published an
article entitled: “Emergence of Intense Suicidal Preoccupation
During Fluoxetine Treatment.” This article, which appeared in the
American Journal of Psychiatry reported that persistent,
obsessive, and violent suicidal thoughts emerged in a minority of
patients treated with fluoxetine (Prozac).
Yale psychiatrist Dr. Robert A. King researched SSRI
antidepressant-induced
suicide risk in1991. His peer-reviewed article, “Emergence of
Self-Destructive Phenomena in Children and Adolescents during
Fluoxetine Treatment,” stated that “self-injurious ideation or
behavior appeared de novo or intensified during fluoxetine
(Prozac) treatment.”
Antidepressant manufacturers and the medical community have been aware that
antidepressants increases the risk of suicide for a long time. Despite
the numerous studies linking increased suicide risk with
antidepressants, antidepressant manufacturers continued to refute these claims.
As the suicide debate bubbles, so does the debate among doctors
and researchers about the effectiveness of antidepressants.
Most studies find that antidepressants are no more effective in fighting
teenage depression than sugar pills. Even in adults,
antidepressants have
been found to offer only modest benefits. In about half of all
adult tests, the drugs prove no more effective than placebos.
These modest benefits are found in published studies. Researchers
have not been able to analyze a large amount of the data because
unfavorable studies are not made public.
GlaxoSmithKline, for instance, acknowledged that just one of its
nine studies of Paxil in children and adolescents has been
published. The one published study made only passing mention of
suicide and concluded that the drug was effective against
depression. According to the FDA, the combined results of all nine
trials show that the drug is not effective against depression in
patients under 18.
Unpublished studies of Effexor, for example, suggested the drug
increased suicide-related events such as suicidal thoughts or
attempts by 14 times compared with placebo.
Other drug companies similarly have withheld negative studies of
antidepressants, claiming that the studies are “trade secrets.” With
negative results not disclosed, physicians often believe the drugs
are more effective and safer than they actually are.
SSRI antidepressants have been found to increase the risk of suicide.
SSRI antidepressants are found to be no more effective than a sugar
pill. In addition to that, all pharmaceutical drugs cause side
effects ranging from mild to life-threatening.
In addition to the increased suicide risk, antidepressants can cause serious side effects. Weight gain and sexual dysfunction are
common antidepressant side effects. Many antidepressants can also cause addiction and
subsequent withdrawal symptoms.
The natural antidepressant Deprex safely and effectively relieves
depression symptoms without side effects commonly associated with
pharmaceutical medications.
Do not stop taking antidepressants without first talking
to your doctor. Your doctor may need to gradually reduce the dose
before stopping antidepressants completely. Suddenly stopping
antidepressants may
cause unpleasant and potentially serious side effects.
*This antidepressant drug information does not
endorse antidepressants, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. The
information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible
warnings, uses, precautions, drug interactions, allergic
reactions, or adverse side effects of antidepressants. If you have questions
about the drugs you are taking, check with your health care
provider or pharmacist. The information provided should not be
construed to indicate that antidepressants is safe, effective or
appropriate.
Related Articles on Suicide:
Depression and Suicide
II
If You Want to Commit
Suicide II
Suicide Prevention
II
Suicide Statistics
II
Suicide
Warning Signs II
Antidepressants and Suicide
II
Youth Suicide
II
Adolescent Suicide
II
Teen Suicide Statistics
II
Elderly Suicide
II
