Antidepressant/Child Suicide Risk Slim
Antidepressant/Child Suicide Risk Slim
Study: Depression Drugs' Benefits for Kids Far Outweigh Suicide Risk
"Our goal was to try to make the decision-making more transparent by presenting the risk/benefit ratios," Brent says. "We leave it up to families and their doctors to choose whether the possible benefits are worth the possible risks. We are trying to take some of the emotion out of it, and put the risks and benefits side by side."
"Brent and colleagues have very accurately characterized the real risks and the real benefits of pediatric antidepressants," Gibbons says.
Both Gibbons and Brent would like to see the black-box warning taken off antidepressant labels.
"We need to consider the risk of doing nothing. Especially with the diagnosis of depression, these are potentially fatal illnesses," Brent says. "The stakes are high. That is why looking at the risks in context of benefits is so important."
This doesn't mean that putting a child on antidepressants is an easy decision. Brent says families must be carefully educated about three things:
And Brent warns that successful treatment of depression, OCD, or anxiety isn't a simple matter of giving children or teens a few months of pills.
"These conditions tend to be chronic and recurrent," he says. "There is no way an eight- to 12-week study will answer questions about a several-year treatment plan, which is what it takes to get people better and keep them better."
Antidepressant/Child Suicide Risk Slim
Study: Depression Drugs' Benefits for Kids Far Outweigh Suicide Risk
Weighing Antidepressants' Suicide Risk continued...
"Our goal was to try to make the decision-making more transparent by presenting the risk/benefit ratios," Brent says. "We leave it up to families and their doctors to choose whether the possible benefits are worth the possible risks. We are trying to take some of the emotion out of it, and put the risks and benefits side by side."
"Brent and colleagues have very accurately characterized the real risks and the real benefits of pediatric antidepressants," Gibbons says.
Both Gibbons and Brent would like to see the black-box warning taken off antidepressant labels.
"We need to consider the risk of doing nothing. Especially with the diagnosis of depression, these are potentially fatal illnesses," Brent says. "The stakes are high. That is why looking at the risks in context of benefits is so important."
This doesn't mean that putting a child on antidepressants is an easy decision. Brent says families must be carefully educated about three things:
- Antidepressant risks and benefits
- Assessment for response to the drugs. If a child or teen doesn't respond to the medication, there's no way to compare benefit to risk.
- The need for careful patient monitoring
And Brent warns that successful treatment of depression, OCD, or anxiety isn't a simple matter of giving children or teens a few months of pills.
"These conditions tend to be chronic and recurrent," he says. "There is no way an eight- to 12-week study will answer questions about a several-year treatment plan, which is what it takes to get people better and keep them better."
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