4 ms·

From personal experience, Prozac can act as a suicide deterrent given the right conditions. It’s not true for everyone, and perhaps not even for most people, bu

From personal experience, Prozac can act as a suicide deterrent given the right conditions. It’s not true for everyone, and perhaps not even for most people, but there is so much stigma against it. Please, if you’re feeling anything along those lines, at least try some antidepressants. What have you got to lose? You have your whole life to gain. I miss Aaron. I ended up using some code by him a couple months ago, which made me smile. It’s still the best library for the job, nearly a decade later.

rozab 6y ago
Placebo controlled trials show that Prozac increases suicidal thoughts. https://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i65 https://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i65 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3353604/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3353604/ https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Antidepressants_and_suicide https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Antidepres... Eli Lilly notoriously buried the evidence of this from their own trials.
- sillysaurusx 6y ago
  Interesting. I wasn’t aware of this. Perhaps I got lucky, but the effect was immediate and life changing. I’ve never quite experienced anything like it, so I try to at least mention it. Not really sure how to proceed knowing it can make the situation worse for some people though. Perhaps I’ll cite your comment in the future; thanks.
  - rozab 6y ago
    This is the issue with placebo controlled trials: the placebo effect is actually pretty damn useful. I don't mean to invalidate your experiences, and I don't doubt that without a placebo group the positive effect would be significant. It's a sticky situation for sure. Maybe it's unethical to tell people this, knowing it will worsen their clinical outcomes? I think HN can handle it, but I probably wouldn't tell this to somebody irl who is struggling with mental health issues and considering antidepressants.
- el_nahual 6y ago
  Most antidepressants actually have it right there on the tin as a potential side effect. Paradoxically, starting an antidepressant regimen can increase the odds of suicide for some people. The mechanism seems to be something like "doesn't completely cure your depression, but makes you un-depressed enough to actually act on suicidal ideation." This is why any competent psychiatrist will pair getting started on antidepressants with an increase in vigilance of the patient.

rozab 6y ago

Placebo controlled trials show that Prozac increases suicidal thoughts. https://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i65 https://www.bmj.com/content/352/bmj.i65 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3353604/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3353604/ https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Antidepressants_and_suicide https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Antidepres... Eli Lilly notoriously buried the evidence of this from their own trials.

sillysaurusx 6y ago
Interesting. I wasn’t aware of this. Perhaps I got lucky, but the effect was immediate and life changing. I’ve never quite experienced anything like it, so I try to at least mention it. Not really sure how to proceed knowing it can make the situation worse for some people though. Perhaps I’ll cite your comment in the future; thanks.
- rozab 6y ago
  This is the issue with placebo controlled trials: the placebo effect is actually pretty damn useful. I don't mean to invalidate your experiences, and I don't doubt that without a placebo group the positive effect would be significant. It's a sticky situation for sure. Maybe it's unethical to tell people this, knowing it will worsen their clinical outcomes? I think HN can handle it, but I probably wouldn't tell this to somebody irl who is struggling with mental health issues and considering antidepressants.
el_nahual 6y ago
Most antidepressants actually have it right there on the tin as a potential side effect. Paradoxically, starting an antidepressant regimen can increase the odds of suicide for some people. The mechanism seems to be something like "doesn't completely cure your depression, but makes you un-depressed enough to actually act on suicidal ideation." This is why any competent psychiatrist will pair getting started on antidepressants with an increase in vigilance of the patient.