Reference: “Changes in antidepressant use by young people and suicidal behavior after FDA warnings and media coverage” BMJ 2014;348:g3596<\/a>.<\/p>\n A research paper published 18 June 2014 in the British Medical Journal<\/em> investigates “if the widely publicized warnings in 2003 from the US Food and Drug Administration about a possible increased risk of suicidality with antidepressant use in young people were associated with changes in antidepressant use, suicide attempts, and completed suicides among young people.”<\/p>\n The paper concludes that “Safety warnings about antidepressants and widespread media coverage decreased antidepressant use, and there were simultaneous increases in suicide attempts among young people.”<\/p>\n Some interesting statistics are cited: “In the United States in 2007, suicide was the third leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 24. Nearly 8% of high school students reported attempting suicide in 2011 and 2.4% made an attempt that required medical attention. There has been considerable concern that suicidal behavior is a potential adverse outcome of prescription drug use, including antidepressant and anticonvulsant agents.”<\/p>\n Additionally, “In adolescents and young adults, initiation of antidepressant treatment may precipitate short term increases in suicidal ideation and behavior.”<\/p>\n Expanding on the conclusion, “After the FDA warnings, antidepressant use decreased substantially in all age groups and there were simultaneous, small increases in psychotropic drug poisonings, a validated measure of suicide attempts, among adolescents and young adults; these results were consistent across 11 geographically diverse US study sites.”<\/p>\n How might suicides be increasing while antidepressant use was decreasing?<\/p>\n We can think of two related facts.<\/p>\n 1) Suicidal thoughts and attempts are a side effect of psychotropic drugs, particularly antidepressants. The side effects of psychotropic drugs being used don’t go away just because there are less prescriptions written.<\/p>\n 2) There are a lot more psychotropic drugs with this side effect than just antidepressants, which are not accounted for in this study.<\/p>\n The real problem is that psychiatrists fraudulently diagnose life’s problems as an “illness”, and stigmatize unwanted behavior or study problems as “diseases,” and then prescribe harmful and addictive, suicide-causing\u00a0drugs to children.\u00a0Psychiatry’s stigmatizing labels, programs and treatments are harmful junk science; their diagnoses of “mental disorders” are a hoax – unscientific, fraudulent and harmful.<\/p>\n Find Out! Fight Back!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Antidepressant use and suicidal behavior Reference: “Changes in antidepressant use by young people and suicidal behavior after FDA warnings and media coverage” BMJ 2014;348:g3596. A research paper published 18 June 2014 in the British Medical Journal investigates “if the widely … Continue reading