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Several years ago, the Food and Drug Administration warned physicians that antidepressants might trigger suicidal thoughts or behaviors in teens and young adults. The warning was intended to increase vigilance over young people starting an antidepressant prescription. Psychiatrists charge that it has reduced overall treatment of depression.
Data from managed care companies showed that primary care doctors were less likely to diagnose depression starting in 2004, just before warnings went on labels in 2005. The use of SSRI drugs dropped, but there does not seem to have been a corresponding increase in older drugs that can be used to treat depression. The researchers are not certain why doctors are diagnosing and treating depression less frequently in adults as well as youngsters. They believe this is an unintended consequence of the label warning, however, and call on the FDA to reconsider it.
[Archives of General Psychiatry, June 2009]
http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/66/6/633
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I am responding to the question in today's Charlotte Observer regarding the 17-year-old who was feeling depressed. The doctor prescribed Prozac, which triggered suicidal thoughts, so it was stopped. He is also not focusing well. We went through a very similar scenario symptom-wise 15 years ago with our daughter, who it turned out, was suffering from Graves Disease.
The symptoms are similar to those of depression, but require a completely different approach medically. Once she was put on Synthroid her symptoms began to abate, her depression lifted, and her grades went back up. Since that time I have talked with several parents whose children went undiagnosed with thyroid disorders for years, despite going from doctor to doctor to find out what their problem was.
Please tell parents to get a complete physical, including bloodwork, before putting a child on antidepressants. (By the way, our daughter neither gained nor lost weight during that episode, despite thyroid levels that were 3x normal, nor did she get the "bug eyes" that adults typically get).
Thank you.