A recent studay suggests a link between Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI drugs) like Zoloft and Paxil and suicides.
Mark Olfson, M.D. at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University Medical Center used a Medicaid database of patients hospitalized with severe depression.
With more than 5,000 in the study found in the Archives of General Psychiatry, they separated children aged 6 to 18, from a group of adults and those who attempted suicide or succeeded. They found five times as many patients who met certain pre-set criteria but had not committed suicide or attempted it.
The study showed that young people who attempted suicide were 1.5 times more likely to have been on an antidepressant at the time of the attempt. Even though only eight children actually took their own lives, they found that they were 15 times more likely to have been on antidepressants. Children who took their own lives were more likely to have been taking a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, SSRIs, like Zoloft and Paxil.
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