World of Psychology

FDA Warns About Antidepressants, Suicide

By John M. Grohol, PsyD
Founder & Editor-in-Chief

FDA Warns About Antidepressants, Suicide

Food and Drug Administration issued a second public warning on Friday that adults who use antidepressants should be closely monitored for warning signs of suicide, especially when they first start the pills or change a dose.

Much of the concern over suicide and antidepressants has centered on children who use the drugs. The FDA last fall determined there is a real, but small, increase in risk of suicidal behavior for children and ordered the labels of all antidepressants to say so.

A year ago, the FDA issued a warning that adults, too, may be at increased risk. The agency began reanalyzing hundreds of studies of the drugs to try to determine if that’s the case, and told makers to add or strengthen suicide-related warnings on their labels in the meantime.

Since then, several new studies have been published in medical journals about a possible connection. Citing them, FDA issued a new public health advisory reminding doctors and patients to watch closely for suicidal thinking or worsening depression and seek medical care if it happens.


Comments


View Comments / Leave a Comment

This post currently has no comments. You can read the comments or leave your own thoughts on our new comments page.

Trackbacks


    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 12 Jul 2005
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.

APA Reference
Grohol, J. (2005). FDA Warns About Antidepressants, Suicide. Psych Central. Retrieved on May 25, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2005/07/12/fda-warns-about-antidepressants-suicide/

 

Recent Comments
  • CandidFrank65: Interesting article. I have been living in Trinidad since 1965. The fact is that East Indians are much...
  • CARL: I AGREE WITH EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAVE SAID ABOUT INTIMACY (LOVE) NEEDS TRUST AND SAFETY. I TO HAVE STUDIED THIS...
  • Daisy: An article full of wisdom, I think! My husband and I have recently celebrated our 25th wedding...
  • Austin: To the author: “… the rest of the seminal fluid has more than 4 dozen other chemicals. One of...
  • Austin: It’s certainly worth a study, but there’s every reason not to assume an equivalent result. The...
Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter



Find a Therapist


Users Online: 3601
Join Us Now!