Group Health researchers found that the number of suicide attempts fell by 60 percent in adults during the month after antidepressant treatment began, and declined further in the following five months. Among the 65,103 patients taking antidepressants, there were 31 completed suicides in the six months following the antidepressant prescription. That rate was not higher in the first month after the prescription was given than in subsequent months. The study also found that newer antidepressants were associated with a faster decline in rates of suicidal behavior than older drugs.
Well considering the very small size of the study, the complete and total lack of any demographic control, lack of suicide risk assesment, and lack of intervention risk and match9ing I would say that this study means squat for the suicide risk factors of an individual taking antidepressants.
As it says at the top of the article IN GENERAL the use of antidepressants does not increase the risk of suicide. WHOOPEE, that really makes my job a whole lot easier.
1. The warning was a congressional mandate and had nothing to do with medicine and intervention in the first place.
2. Taking the antidepressants creates a HUGE RISK for individuals with persisyant suicidal ideation, treatment is the most dangerous when it is initiated. If you have an individual who is depressed with vegatative symptoms they are at risk of harming themselves but it is lower because of the lack of energy and motivation. So when you begin treatment, the vegatative symptoms reduce and when they have a bad day, BAM they are now atr high risk of suicide. This is a real phenomena.
3. The other link between suicide and antidepressants is that they perscribe anti-depressants to people who are suicidal , and because of the lower lethality of the SSRI as oppossed to tricyclics , suicidal people are preferentialy treated with SSRI medication. hence the coorelation.
I agree that this study will show that overall the use of any AD does not increase the chance of ending ones life. That was not the problem in the first place,
parents who demand medication for thier children and then won't accept the risks of any treatment are the problem.
I know that this was not the point of your post Bill, and my post is about something else entirlyly but as a person who is very involved in suicide prevention, the study is well meaningless.
1. What was the original risk assesment for the members of the study. Most people seeking treatment are at low risk to begin with.
2. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS to just state that treatment does not increase the risk of suicide in the general population, the problem is that in the high risk population treatment increases the risk of suicide during the begining of treatment.
I know that this has nothing to do with your OP and I hope that you will forgive my soap box histrionics.
I guess I'm not jealous I didn't get those whacky side effects. Zyban is wellbutrin, but is sold to folks that want to quit smoking or lose some weights. It helps decrease cravings.
