FDA Continues to Confirm Antidepressant Risks I First Identified More Than a Decade Ago

In 2004 the FDA issued a black box warning about the increased risk of suicidality in children taking the newer antidepressants, including the SSRIs (Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, Celexa, and Lexapro) and also Effexor and Wellbutrin (also marketed as Zyban). On June 30, 2005 the FDA published a Public Health Advisory warning of the possibility of increased suicidality in adults treated with antidepressants. The FDA followed this on July 1, 2005 with a Talk Paper elaborating on the potential risk and the agency’s plans to study the problem further. All of these FDA documents are available on www.fda.gov.
The FDA should have issued these warnings at least a decade ago. I first began writing about antidepressant-induced suicidality in 1991. At that time I identified drug-induced suicidality as part of a much larger problem -- antidepressant-induced activation or stimulation similar to that caused by amphetamine, methamphetamine and cocaine. Antidepressant stimulation can lead to violence as well as suicide and a wide variety of abnormal and even psychotic behaviors.