Depression Group Objects to FDA Antidepressant Warning
Wednesday December 27, 2006
On December 15, the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) announced its objection to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) recent recommendation to include a black box warning on antidepressants regarding suicide risk in young adults.
In a press release from the organization, Gloria Pope, director of advocacy and public policy was quoted as saying, “As an organization we have consistently called for research data on the impact of antidepressants so that patients and their doctors can make informed decisions, but the recent recommendation to the FDA may have a chilling effect on the legitimate use of antidepressants by young adults, ultimately increasing the risk of suicide for people under the age of 25.” Pope said that DBSA "strongly urges" the FDA to reconsider its decision.
The DBSA is a non-profit patient-directed organization focusing upon depression and bipolar disorder. They publish educational materials and advocate on behalf of people with mood disorders.
Comments
I’ve always thought that warnings of such a nature is questionable, because how can anyone determine whether a med was a contributing factor in a (ex: teen’s or young adult’s) suicide, or whether it was just the depression itself? It would be very difficult to establish a statistical connection for this, and for the numbers of potential suicides that are prevented by meds; I would venture that antidepressants help prevent many more potential suicides than ever might contribute to them.
PS doesn’t anyone else ever post comments??
The reason the warning was placed on the antidepressants in regard to suicide is that the clinical trials showed their was more than double the risk for suicide of those on the drug as compared to those on a sugar pill. Also, the clinical trials do not accept anyone who is suicidial so this makes it more likely that the drug was the culprit.
I’ve heard that what happens is this: antidepressants ramp up slowly (~1 mo) but fall off pretty quickly (days). And the withdrawl symptoms are pretty mean - a spike of terrific depression.
OK so with ‘young adults’, there’s more of a tendency to be sloppy on the meds - oops forgot yesterday, oops forgot over the weekend. As a result, these people get spikes of depression here and there as a result.
And apparently the meds with the shorter half life have this problem more than the ones with the longer half life.
I don’t know about you guys, but if I miss a day, I double up the next day. THey say you’re not supposed to, but screw em. I haven’t committed suicide yet.