Tuesday, October 28, 2003


Doctors alerted on antidepressants, children
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration alerted doctors yesterday to a possible increased suicide risk among children and teenagers taking several of the eight most common antidepressants. But the agency said more study is needed to determine whether the drugs are at fault.

I've heard that the initial spike in suicides to newly prescribed patients is due to the fact that antidepressants give you a burst of energy that you didn't have before. Depression seems to have a built-in, oh, let's say "barrier", to suicide: you just don't have the energy to actually follow through with the thought.

Why these drugs are prescribed to children is beyond me. That seems way to dangerous. More testing on long-term effects is needed.