Adults suffering from depression who take antidepressants are exposed to the same risk of suicide, no matter which medication they are taking.
An article in Archives of Geneal Psychiatry cites Dr. Sebastian Schneeweiss, main author of a new study by Brigham and Women’s hospital and a professor at Harvard Faculty of Medicine.
According to Dr. Schneeweiss, antidepressants are identical in terms of suicide attempts by people using the medications. "Our conclusion is that the rate of suicide attempt is the same in all patients taking antidepressants," says Dr. Schneeweiss, who further stated that all antidepressants should be identically categorized by the FDA.
287,542 medical files from B.C. citizens who had begun a course of antidepressants between 1997 and 2005 were analyzed. During the first year of treatment, 846 people attempted suicide and 104 succeeded. "The decision to prescribe a medication has to be based on its efficacity, but doctors need to be vigilant about following up with their patients after they begin therapy with an antidepressant," says Dr. Schneeweiss.
No proof that antidepressants reduce suicide attempts has been found in the last decade, though in that time prescriptions for antidepressants have increased considerably.