"In October 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered drug labeling to warn of a possible link between antidepressant drug treatment and suicidal thoughts, or "ideation," and behavior in children and adolescents, the researchers note in the American Journal of Psychiatry. In May 2007, the warning was extended to include young adults."

"Dr. Robert D. Gibbons, of the University of Illinois at Chicago, and colleagues examined the association between antidepressant treatment and suicide attempts in adult patients treated in the Veterans Administration health care system. "

"Data were analyzed for 226,866 veterans without a history of depression as of 2000-2002, but had been diagnosed with depression by 2003-2004 and were followed for at least 6 months. The team compared the suicide attempt rates before and after the patients began treatment with SSRIs or tricyclic antidepressants."

"Overall, 114,475 subjects were treated with one drug within one class of antidepressants; 72 percent received an SSRI, 24 percent received a non-SSRI and 4 percent were given a tricyclic antidepressant. Another 52,959 patients received a combination of antidepressant drugs and 59,432 were not treated."

"Suicide attempt rates were lower after treatment than before treatment, the team reports. A comparison of suicide attempts before and after treatment with a single SSRI also revealed lower risk for patients in all age groups. This relationship was statistically significant in all but the 18 to 25 age group, "possibly because of the smaller number of patients in that age group in the VA population and the small number
... read the whole article