Posted by med_empowered on February 6, 2007, at 10:32:36
In reply to Re: Disturbing results » Squiggles, posted by Larry Hoover on February 6, 2007, at 9:02:00
No one has established a correllation. All we know is doc's reduced rx-ing of ADs, suicide rates went up. Also, although the percentages look huge, the absolute numbers (and absolute increases) were pretty small. And lots of things influence suicide, not just depression. Social class, ethnicity, family structure, religion/lack thereof--these and other social factors play a huge role in determining suicidality. Plus, suicide rates fluctuate anyway--remember the cluster suicides among teens in the 80s? Those boosted rates, then everything calmed down and the rates went down.
Also, given that some of these ADs haven't been shown effective for adolescents, I think we're overlooking the fact that the case for these meds being safe, effective treatment for depression (especially in young people) really hasn't been made...Paxil, for instance, turned out ineffective in several trials. In the UK, only Prozac is considered to have enough evidence to justify prescribing to adolescents.Speaking of teenage suicide...anyone seen Heathers? Awesome film.
poster:med_empowered
thread:730277
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070201/msgs/730334.html