Sammenhengen antidepressiva og selvmord

Abstract

Abstract There are two kinds of antidepressants the old TCA and the new SSRI. Both have side effects, but the SSRI has less. One grave side effect with antidepressants is the risk of suicide. 5, 3 % of men and 9, 3 % of woman had one receipt on antidepressant in 2004 in the age group 0-69 years.

The aim of this article is to find the relation between antidepressants use and suicide rates. Does antidepressants like SSRI and TCA trigger suicide? Is it any difference between SSRI and TCA on suicide. Which patient groups are at risk?

METHOD: I searched in Pubmed with following keywords: Antidepressants and suicide, and SSRI and suicide. I also searched in Medline and Google with the same keywords antidepressants and suicide.

Results: It is a higher suicide risk for younger patients under 25 years on SSRI compared with placebo. The risk for suicide is not higher for patients above 25 years according to most of the articles that I have used. Most studies show the same risk for suicide risk with SSRI and TCA.

Conclusion: It is a risk of suicide with SSRI compared to placebo for patients under 25 years. Carefulness is therefore important with these patients. If they have a serious depression they should be hospitalized with SSRI. The risk for suicide is high in the first weeks after starting an antidepressant. In this time the patients should be seen often from psychiatrist and general practice doctors.