Suicide and Antidepressants: More Bad News for Kids

I wanted to make certain that everyone had at least checked the abstract of the latest study regarding antidepressant medication and suicide in children/adolescents. It's worth a full read if you can get your hands on it. It was a case-control study looking at suicidality and actual suicide among both children/adolescents and adults

"...in children and adolescents (aged 6-18 years), antidepressant drug treatment was significantly associated with suicide attempts (OR, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.12-2.07 [263 cases and 1241 controls]) and suicide deaths (OR, 15.62; 95% CI, 1.65-infinity [8 cases and 39 controls])."

I suppose the only good news that could come from this is that the data did not support a connection between suicidality and antidepressant use in adults. Sertraline (Zoloft) seemed to have a protective effect on adults, which was surprising in the light of David Healy's various examinations of SSRI's and suicide.

Child practitioners: PLEASE let the research on antidepressants and youth suicidality/suicide inform your work.

http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/63/8/865