Do selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors cause suicide?: Suicide rate of 15% in editorial is misleading

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7500.1150-a

BMJ 2005;330:1150 (14 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7500.1150-a

Letter

Do selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors cause suicide?

Suicide rate of 15% in editorial is misleading

EDITOR—Cipriani et al in their editorial make many soundpoints about the risks and benefits of antidepressants.¹ However,they say that up to 15% of patients with unipolar depressioneventually commit suicide. This implies that 15% is a reasonableestimate, rather than a gross overestimate based on very unrepresentativesamples.

How many casual readers will be misled by this statement, whichreinforces a stubbornly persistent myth?

Melissa K Raven, lecturer, public health

Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA 5042, Australia melissa.raven{at}flinders.edu.au

Competing interests: None declared.