The Link Between Antidepressants And [suicide In Children] Has Been Refuted

2023 Author: Abraham Higgins | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-30 04:59

The link between antidepressants and [suicide in children] has been refuted

In a large-scale study conducted by American scientists, it was not possible to find a connection between suicide in children and adolescents with the intake of the most popular antidepressants belonging to the group of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The researchers hope this will convince doctors that the drugs are safe enough for these patients.

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In a large-scale study conducted by American scientists, it was not possible to find a connection between suicide in children and adolescents with the intake of the most popular antidepressants belonging to the group of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), Medical Xpress reports.

The ability of this group of antidepressants to induce suicidal tendencies in children, adolescents and young adults was shown in a retrospective analysis of 25 studies conducted in 2003. Based on the results of this analysis, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required all manufacturers of antidepressants sold in the country to place a special warning about this side effect (the so-called black box warning) on the packaging.

Researchers at Columbia University, the Universities of Illinois, and Miami have put this question into further study. To do this, they conducted a meta-analysis of 41 clinical trials of SSRIs with a total of more than 9,000 participants. Thanks to these data, scientists were able to study the weekly dynamics of depression symptoms and suicidal thoughts under the influence of drugs and placebo in all trial participants over time.

It was found that in adults and elderly patients, antidepressants reduced the frequency of suicidal thoughts in proportion to the decrease in symptoms of depression. In children and adolescents, the manifestations of depression also decreased under the influence of antidepressants, but this did not affect their suicidal tendencies (the frequency of suicidal thoughts neither increased nor decreased). Thus, the scientists failed to reproduce the results of the 2003 study.

Based on the results, researcher Robert Gibbons, a member of the FDA's profile commission, expressed the hope that doctors will be convinced of the sufficient safety of SSRIs and will not leave patients of any age without treatment. He also recalled the results of a recent study showing that after the FDA warnings on packaging, specialists began to prescribe antidepressants much less frequently to both children and adults, which led to an increase in suicide rates in the United States.

Gibbons did not elaborate on whether the supervisory authority will cancel the requirement to post warnings. The findings of the researchers are published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.