Suicide Attempts After the FDA Warnings on Antidepressants

The 2004 and 2007 U.S. FDA requirement for boxed warnings on antidepressants about possible increased risk for suicidality among adolescents and young adults remains controversial. Investigators examined changes associated with the warnings in >7 million geographically diverse adolescents and adults (age range, 10–64 years) in the U.S. Mental Health Research Network database.

Compared with antidepressant use before the warnings (2000–2003), antidepressant use after the warnings (2005–2010) was associated with a relative reduction of 31% in adolescents (age range, 10–17 years) and 24% in young adults (age range, 18–29). However, psychotropic drug poisonings (a validated measure of suicide attempts) increased 22% and 34%, respectively. Among o…