Antidepressant medications have come under fire recently, with some data arguing that they aren’t effective when compared to a placebo, and some arguing that antidepressants are doing more harm than they are good. One major issue that has recently emerged in the literature is the potential link between antidepressant medications and an increase in suicidality. Most of the articles acknowledge the thought that antidepressants are increasing suicide risk simply is not supported by data. However, they do recognize that the presence of the FDA-required “Black Box” warning has had some perverse effects on treatment and, by extension, suicide rates. Additionally, the literature consistently expresses the blatant difference in antidepressant effects on youth population compared to adult and elderly patients. This difference is the most significant and most concerning aspect of the research that has been conducted. So, are antidepressants actually having a negative effect on suicidal thought …show more content…
Robert J. Valuk and his colleges looked at over 20,000 people with first time diagnoses of depression. "At least 6 months of follow-up data were available, which showed that treatment with SSRIs, other antidepressants, or combinations of antidepressants did not increase the risk of suicide attempts.” However, an impressive article was written by Dr. Richard A. Friedman, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, and Dr. Andrew C. Leon who is also a professor at Weill Cornell of biostatistics in psychiatry, and member of the FDA's Psychopharmacologial Drugs Advisory Committee. In their article, the two argue that "Clinicians have known for years that during the first few weeks of treatment with antidepressants, some patients become “activated” —energized and agitated — before their depressed mood lifts, and that combination makes them more likely to act on preexisting suicidal