On January 7, 2008, United States researchers said severe warnings of suicidiality in young persons taking antidepressants have curbed these drugs’ rapid increase in growth, however access to the drugs for youths seeking treatment has not been eliminated. Antidepressant use had been growing at a rate of 36 percent per year before warnings were first issued in 2003, but the growth rate has flattened since that time.

Some mental health professionals feared the warnings, which apply to children ages 6 to 17, would limit youth access to the medications. And some doctors have interpreted a spike in suicide rates in 2004 as being tied to a decline in the use of antidepressants among children.

Antidepressants are used to treat depression, the leading cause of suicide. But regulators issued warnings on use of the drugs after trials showed they could actually increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in youth.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a “black box” warning, the agency’s strongest, to highlight the risk associated with the drugs. This caused some to fear the medications wouldn’t be as available for the youth who use them, but the most recent study found this was not the case.

“What we found is the FDA warnings had a relatively moderate and targeted effect in slowing the growth of antidepressant use by children,” said Dr. Mark Offson of Columbia Medical Center. The FDA plans to continue to monitor youth suicide rates.

Source: Julie Steenhuysen, “Effect of antidepressant warnings moderate-US study,” Reuters, January 7, 2008.