Hope After All?

Antidepressants can cause dangerous suicidal thoughts in people of all ages. The FDA requires labels and brochures distributed with the drugs to warn about all of the possible side effects. The question is: is warning the public enough or should more drastic measures be taken?

In the case of adults, I think that personal choice should be allowed. An adult with a prescription from a doctor should not be kept from taking antidepressants, despite the risks. However, I do not think the same is true for children. In children, the prescription of certain antidepressants should be discouraged, if not outlawed. The difference is that in children the odds of positive effects from tricyclic antidepressants are slim to none, making the risk of administering these drugs to children a foolish one to take. In doing more research, I found that while tricyclic antidepressants do not usually help children, fluoxetine (the SSRI usually known as Prozac) has been showed to be effective, especially when combined with cognitive behavioral therapy. This indicates that since the original FDA study claiming the effects of SSRIs was "clinically insignificant" in children the matter has been further researched in a way that may have encouraged doctors to prescribe the pills to children.

It is fortunate that the SSRIs were studied further as the need for an effective treatment in severely depressed children is great. It seems that the atypical antidepressant bupropion (often marketed as Wellbutrin) has also shown positive effects in children. It is interesting to consider why there is such a difference in effectiveness in children and adults. Most likely, the mechanism of depression on the brain is different in children than in adults due to the process of brain development.

In the end, I think that the question of personal choice versus social responsibility comes down to effectiveness. If there is a chance that the doctor-prescribed medication may help the patient, the patient should have the right to take that chance.

"Open Trial of Bupropion SR in Adolescent Major Depression." 25 Aug. 2004. Web. 20 Apr. 2012. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1744-6171.2003.00123.x/abstract>.

 "The Treatment for Adolescents With Depression Study (TADS): Long-term Effectiveness and Safety Outcomes." Archives of General Psychiatry, Oct. 2007. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. <focus.psychiatryonline.org/data/Journals/FOCUS/1833/foc00108000063.pdf>.