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April 17, 2004
Antidepressants Dangerous?
Keep an eye out on the debate about antidepressants over the next year.
There are a number of legislators and medication luddites who fail to understand "cause and effect". Their argument is this...
'Johnny was on an antidepressant, Johnny committed suicide, therefore...the antidepressant caused suicide.'
This is a bunch of bull. Antidepressants are taken for 'depression', hence the name. A major symptom of depression is suicide. The only thing that the 'Johnny' example proves is the antidepressant didn't do it's job.
Where treating depression gets difficult is that there is no one antidepressant that works for everybody. So getting someone on the right medication can be a challenge for doctors. Especially if the patient isn't communicating effectively about the status of their symptoms. Some people aren't on the right medication and are at risk of all the symptoms of depression.
The true test for an antidepressant is to measure the number of suicides among users and compare that number against the number of suicides committed by equally depressed people who are not on a medication.
Now that the politicians are involved, watch out for the potential of stupid policies being enacted.
If you're on an antidepressant and it is helping, stay on it. If you don't think it is helping, talk with your doctor BEFORE discontinuing!
Posted by Dave at April 17, 2004 11:13 PM
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