More Facts About Antidepressants and Suicide

From the newsletter, Psychiatric Times, here is a summary of recent findings from analysis of data pertaining to the association between antidepressant use and the incidence of suicide.  I wrote a flurry of articles on this subject back in April.  (previous CC posts: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9)

Now, however, the interest in the topic has waned; people just aren't talking about it so much any more.  Despite the fickle nature of the sensational-news-consuming public, the scientific community has retained an interest in the topic. 

Yes, there was an article  in the NYT last week, regarding a study that showed a positive effect using fluoxetine to treat depressed adolescents.  This article did not attract much attention, which, in fact, was appropriate.  Few few individual studies deserve front-page coverage in a major newspaper.  Although the results of the study were encouraging, any such study must be viewed in a wider context in order to be interpreted properly.

Because of the need for a wider context, it was with interest that I read the recent article in the Psychiatric Times.  The article reviews the findings of five population-based studies of the association between antidepressant prescribing and suicide rates.  In this post, I discuss the merits of the article and their conclusion.  Read the rest at The Rest of the Story.