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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 One year later, the FDA directed manufacturers of antidepressants to revise their labeling to include a "black-box" warning. The warning alerts health-care providers about an increased risk of suicide and suicidal thoughts in children and teens.
This warning may have had a dampening effect on the drugs' use among children. A recent study found that the number of U.S. children being prescribed antidepressants has dropped since the warnings. Some experts have said this trend could be worrisome if it means that young patients who might benefit from SSRIs aren't getting them.
In a previous study, Bridge found that treating children with antidepressants was beneficial. "Our study shows that, at least in the short-term, treatment benefits appear to outweigh the risks," he said.
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Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women & Families, agreed that the increase in youth suicides is now a trend, but the reasons for it are multi-faceted.
The increase among older teens may be due, in part, to the languishing economy. "When the economy is bad, and jobs are harder to find, it's a tough time for kids who are trying to get a job," she said.
It's also harder to get into college and afford it, Zuckerman said. "So, for kids who are college-bound, there are those stressors," she said.
Zuckerman also thinks that untreated depression may play a role in the increase suicide rate.
But overall, she thinks that children are more isolated, even from their families, than ever before.
"Kids and family members are spending more and more time apart," she said. "Apart might mean being on the computer. Kids and their families are not watching TV together, they're not eating meals together, they are not talking to each other nearly as much."
"There is a lot of data that shows when families don't eat together, kids get into trouble. And trouble means drug use, alcohol use, sex and suicide," she said. "Parents need to be more involved in the decision-making process about what their kids are doing."
More information
For more on suicide, visit the National Institute of Mental Health.
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