Friday, July 4, 2014

SSRIs, Suicide, & Misinformation

Recently there was a study pushed through by the anti-depressant industry and widely covered by news media. The headlines claimed that there had been an increase of suicides ever since it was mandated that SSRI antidepressants come with a warning label about the risk for increased suicides, especially for teens and children.  This caused many people to rethink their medications, and advocates of  these medications warned that this exodus would increase depression, ultimately leading to more suicides.  Needles to say, people are confused.

This latest study is part of a miss-information campaign, and you have to read the fine print.  Even in the data of the study itself, THERE WAS NO INCREASE IN COMPLETED SUICIDES.  When the study failed to show what they wanted to find, they looked elsewhere and found an increase in "psychotropic drug poisoning," which they are creatively calling an increase in suicide attempts.  Ironically, antidepressants themselves are a type of psychotropic drug.

This study is bogus. Antidepressant drugs still raise suicide risks for teens and children, and the jury is still out on whether they do anything at all in the terms of treating depression.  SSRIs are a poor substitute for cognitive therapy and will not address the root of the problem.  Proceed cautiously if you are considering them for you child.

Read our Family Recovery Information to learn about suicide prevention and what are the dangers in psychotherapy for children.

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