BMJ  2003;327:288-289 (2 August), doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7409.288-c

Letter

Antidepressant prescribing and suicide

Antidepressants do not reduce suicide rates

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Hall et al show that the biggest increase in the use of antidepressants in 1990-2000 has been in the 15-44 age group.1 Simultaneously the rate of suicide for this age span has increased in Australia. For men aged 25-34 the use of antidepressants has increased more than six times during the period and the suicide rate has increased by almost 17%.

By using this correlation in time in the same way that Hall et al use the total correlation for all ages it could be argued that antidepressants increase the risk of suicide for people younger than 45 and particularly for men aged 25-34. Neither this conclusion nor that of Hall et al is scientifically valid. To make valid conclusions we need controlled studies.

Hall et al say that there is little direct evidence that antidepressants reduce the suicide rate because even large clinical trials have limited power . . . [Full text of this article]

Peter H Ankarberg, clinical psychologist

Samtalscentrum Unga Vuxna, Repslagargatan 5A, S-611 30 Nyköping, Sweden peter.ankarberg@spray.se


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Relevant Article

Association between antidepressant prescribing and suicide in Australia, 1991-2000: trend analysis
Wayne D Hall, Andrea Mant, Philip B Mitchell, Valerie A Rendle, Ian B Hickie, and Peter McManus
BMJ 2003 326: 1008. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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