Government warnings a decade ago about risks associated with children and adolescents taking antidepressants appear to have backfired, causing an increase in suicide attempts and discouraging many depressed young people from seeking treatment, according to a study published Wednesday in the academic journal BMJ.
Researchers said their findings underscore how even well-intentioned public health warnings can produce unintended consequences.
In 2003 and 2004, the Food and Drug Administration issued warnings based on data that pointed to an increase in suicidal thinking among some children and adolescents prescribed antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs. They included Paxil and Zoloft.
In late 2004, the agency directed manufacturers to include a “black box” warning on their labels.
Antidepressant prescriptions fell sharply for adolescents aged 10 to 17 and for young adults aged 18 to 29. At the same time, researchers found that the number of suicide attempts rose by more than 20 percent in adolescents and by more than a third in young adults.
