Depression Treatment

Suicides among young people continue to be a serious problem. Each year in the U.S., thousands of teenagers commit suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people aged 15-24. A new study on teen depression and suicide has found that over half of all adolescents who commit suicide have experienced a form of depression. Studies have shown that greater than 20% of adolescents in the general population have emotional problems and one-third of adolescents attending psychiatric clinics suffer from depression.

A new study found that commonly prescribed antidepressants boosts the risk of suicide for children and adolescents. Children aged 6 to 18 who received treatment with antidepressants were 1.5 times more likely to attempt suicide, and 15 times more likely to die of the attempt, than those not treated with antidepressants. There were differences noted between types of antidepressants. Effexor, an SNRI, was associated with 2.3 times the risk of suicide attempts compared with no drug treatment at all. Tricyclic antidepressants were also substantially linked with suicide attempts.

Depression and suicidal feelings are treatable mental disorders. The child or adolescent needs to have his or her illness recognized and diagnosed, and appropriate treatment plans developed. “Parents,teachers and health care professionals should pay close attention to changes in mood and actions of depressed children”, said Dr. Mark Olfson, the clinical psychiatry professor at the New York State Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University Medical Center.