Diagnosis, Treatment of Youth for Depression Fell After FDA Alert

Researchers are troubled by data indicating that large numbers of young people with depression are being left untreated after the FDA issued its first advisory about the antidepressants in 2003.

Rates of the diagnosis and pharmacological treatment of depression among children and adolescents dropped sharply after October 2003, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued its first public health advisory informing health care professionals of an increased risk of suicidality among youngsters taking antidepressants.

These findings, which appeared in the June American Journal of Psychiatry, have heightened the concerns of researchers and clinicians alike that suicide rates among untreated children and adolescents will rise unchecked. In fact, a study published in the February Pediatrics revealed an 18.2 percent increase in suicide from 2003 to 2004 among youngsters under the age of 20 (Psychiatric News, March 2).

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