Suicide risk in adults lowered by antidepressants

Adults with depression who are treated with a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have a lower rate of suicide attempts, the results of a new study indicate.

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.

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