Depression :: Antidepressants linked to lower child suicide rates

Researchers report an inverse relationship between antidepressant prescriptions and the rates of suicide in children and adolescents — a finding that contradicts the Food and Drug Administration’s “black box” warning for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medications, also known as SSRI drugs.

The University of Illinois at Chicago epidemiologic study appears in the November issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Depression, or a depressed mood, may in everyday English refer to a state of melancholia, unhappiness or sadness, or to a relatively minor downturn in mood that may last only a few hours or days. This is quite distinct from the medical diagnosis of clinical depression. However, if depressed mood lasts at least two weeks, and is accompanied by other symptoms that interfere with daily living, it may be seen as a symptom of clinical depression, dysthymia or some other diagnosable mental illness, or alternatively as sub-syndromal depression.

The study also found that adjusted suicide rates were highest in less densely populated areas of the western United States, which often include areas with Indian reservations. The adjusted suicide rates were lowest in large cities such as Chicago, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle and Miami.


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