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SSRI use has skyrocketed, and multiple meta-analyses have confirmed that they lead to an increase in suicidal thoughts and behavior when used by children and ad

by NickM 4y ago

SSRI use has skyrocketed, and multiple meta-analyses have confirmed that they lead to an increase in suicidal thoughts and behavior when used by children and adolescents. I don't necessarily agree with the grandparent poster's point of view, as I do think there are big societal changes leading to decreased mental health that are unrelated to the way we treat mental illness...but I do think the increase in usage of psychiatric drugs is a big problem, and may at least partly explain the increased suicide rates.

samtho 4y ago
> SSRI use has skyrocketed, and multiple meta-analyses have confirmed that they lead to an increase in suicidal thoughts and behavior when used by children and adolescents. The prevailing wisdom on this is that many people suffering major depression won’t even have the motivation to go through with suicide. Once the depression has begun to be treated, certain executive functions start to amplify giving sufferers newfound task salience and resolve to go through with it. The problem is that all the symptoms of depression take far longer to subside with consistent SSRI/SNRI usage as prescribed. These drugs take on average 90 days to reach their full effectiveness but not everything happens at once during this adjustment. Along the way, you do reach a strange state of: “well I’m still depressed but I feel empowered to do something about it now.”
- TchoBeer 4y ago
  I remember this stage when I started taking SSRIs when I was an older teenager. I was warned about it and was seeing a short-term therapist and so I dealt with it well, but there's a short 2-4 weeks where the crushing demotivation that has dominated your life is lifted but you still are stuck in the life-despising thought spirals. I assume that much of this can be mitigated by regular consultation with mental health for the first two month while trying a new medication, but it's possible that isn't true.

by NickM 4y ago

samtho 4y ago

> SSRI use has skyrocketed, and multiple meta-analyses have confirmed that they lead to an increase in suicidal thoughts and behavior when used by children and adolescents. The prevailing wisdom on this is that many people suffering major depression won’t even have the motivation to go through with suicide. Once the depression has begun to be treated, certain executive functions start to amplify giving sufferers newfound task salience and resolve to go through with it. The problem is that all the symptoms of depression take far longer to subside with consistent SSRI/SNRI usage as prescribed. These drugs take on average 90 days to reach their full effectiveness but not everything happens at once during this adjustment. Along the way, you do reach a strange state of: “well I’m still depressed but I feel empowered to do something about it now.”

TchoBeer 4y ago
I remember this stage when I started taking SSRIs when I was an older teenager. I was warned about it and was seeing a short-term therapist and so I dealt with it well, but there's a short 2-4 weeks where the crushing demotivation that has dominated your life is lifted but you still are stuck in the life-despising thought spirals. I assume that much of this can be mitigated by regular consultation with mental health for the first two month while trying a new medication, but it's possible that isn't true.