Researchers have warned that exceeding the recommended dosage for antidepressants could increase the risk of suicidal behavior in children and young adults, especially during the first 90 days of treatment.
According to a report published in the Medical Express, a study conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) showed that children who are on antidepressants are twice as show suicidal behavior than those who aren’t on any. Dosage and age were taken into account.
Details of the study
The study involved 162625 individuals between the age of 10 and 64 who had been diagnosed with depression and were taking antidepressants. The higher the dosage, the more likely suicide became, according to the findings. The results were published in the JAMA Internal Medicine Journal.
In a new study, it was confirmed that while the link may be negligible, at least 1 out of every 150 patients did show an increase in suicidal behavior when placed on a higher dosage of antidepressants, but the reason is yet to be discovered. 
What are the conclusions?
Mathew Miller, M.D. and Sc.D of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, says: “Our findings offer clinicians an additional incentive to avoid initiating pharmacotherapy at high-therapeutic doses and to monitor all patients starting antidepressants, especially youth, for several months.”
Dr. David A.Brent of the University of Pittsburgh and Dr. Robert Gibbons of the University of Chicago, said: “These findings suggest that higher than modal initial dosing leads to an increased risk for deliberate self-harm (DSH) and adds further support to current clinical recommendations to begin treatment with lower antidepressant doses. While initiation at higher than modal doses of antidepressants may be deleterious, this study does not address the effect of dose escalation. Moreover, while definitive studies on the impact of dose escalation in the face of nonresponse remain to be done, there are promising studies that suggest in certain subgroups, dose escalation can be of benefit.”
They also said that it should be noted that there was no pre to post-exposure increase in suicidal behavior after the initiation of antidepressants in children and young adults treated at the normal dosage.
What’s next?
Researchers plan to study the link between a high dosage of antidepressants in children and mass murder-suicide, with the intention of providing actionable data.
If they can prove that there is a link between the two, it could help to reduce the number of school shootings and other cases of mass murder among children and young adults.
So far, in every case of mass murder in the US, it was found that the shooters were on elevated doses of mind and mood-altering psychotropic drugs, such as Ambien, Paxil, and others.
A Natural News report has shown that antidepressants are currently overprescribed in the US military and general public, which is becoming a major cause for concern.
Antidepressants are the 3rd most prescribed medication in the US, with data showing that 8-10% of the population is currently on some form of antidepressant. Since the 1990’s, adults in the US are taking four times more antidepressants, which means that there could be a dramatic increase in the rate of suicides.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12113920
https://www.madinamerica.com/2015/11/percentage-of-americans-on-antidepressants-nearly-doubles/
https://www.bmj.com/content/336/7643/515?variant=full
https://www.psychiatrist.com/JCP/article/Pages/2004/v65n11/v65n1103.aspx
https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/ajp.2007.164.7.1044
