Two views on suicide risk with antidepressants
The recent FDA proposal to force antidepressants to carry warnings about increased suicide risk is the subject of a pair of articles by leading experts in The Annals of Pharmacotherapy. According to “Antidepressants, Suicide, and the FDA: A …
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From what I understand, the main problem with suicide and anti-depressants is that as you are coming out of the depression, you begin to feel more energetic, more “can do”. Unfortunately, you also are still depressed and have black thoughts. And that combination of sudden energy and purpose and still-bleak thoughts is a recipe for disaster. So pretty much they need a warning saying that you have to give it time to work fully, not to make any rash judgments. That sudden ability to cope better with life that comes just as you are awaking from a depression makes you feel (like any rational person would) that while you have the energy to, you’d better end your life so that you won’t have to suffer from the depression anymore. But in a few weeks or a month, the depression will lift completely (if the drug is right for you and taken in combination with the appropriate other drugs), and you won’t feel like you want to off yourself.