Paxil Causing Suicide Attempts

There was a very recent and stunning news that broke out in which a pharmaceutical company warned the doctors that the people who are under the age of 30 are at increased risk of suicide attempts if they are taking antidepressants such as Paxil.

There was a study that conducted, which involved about 15,000 people and it was found that the suicidal behavior was very high in people who were taking Paxil than the individuals who were taking placebo ranging in the ages between 18 to 30.

This research was brought about on a call by the Food and Drug Administration to all the pharmaceutical companies to find out as to what levels the antidepressants put the individuals at risk for suicide and hence the facts were revealed regarding the antidepressants and the risks of suicide related to them.

There were other companies as well who did the analysis on their drug apart from the GlaxoSmith who make Paxil, which includes Eli Lilly & Co.’s Prozac, Pfizer Inc.’s Zoloft and Effexor by Wyeth.

The studies on these antidepressants are not complete yet and there is still a lot of data that needs to be collected to ascertain as to how many people are affected with a background of different clinical situations and how it turns the individual to be suicidal and what are the factors that are playing a part in that.

The doctors state that the individuals who are taking the antidepressants must not abruptly stop the medication because there are reported suicidal tendencies in different individuals who have stopped taking the antidepressant medicines, so one must not abruptly stop the antidepressant medications.

The researchers who are studying the relationship of antidepressants and suicidal tendencies have also mentioned that these medicines are really helping people who are going through severe bouts of depression, but they are adding another thing into that, which says that the individuals who are taking the antidepressant therapies must be under close observation due to the hazards it pose to the people who are under the age of 30.

This medicine has the serious effects on children as well and as an immediate effect the doctors have decreased down the rate of prescribing the antidepressant drugs to about 25% so that the children could be prevented from any adverse effects of these medicines on children.

This decision of decreasing down the prescribed antidepressants was done due to the fact that there were a lot of children in 2004who had suicidal tendencies than the children who were on placebos.

Therefore it is really important for the parents to realize that they question the physicians who are prescribing antidepressant drugs to their children so that they can determine as to what would be the effects of these medicines on their children and would it be safe for their children to be on such medicines that raises the suicidal tendencies by many folds. Just be very cautious when your child is taking the antidepressant drug and make sure that they are living in a safe environment and do talk with them on a regular basis to know if they are falling a victim of suicidal thoughts.


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