Do Antidepressants Protect Against Suicidal Behavior in Bipolar, Unipolar Disorders? (the MPR take): In the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, researchers sought to examine the risk of suicide attempts and suicides associated with antidepressant treatment in patients with bipolar I, bipolar II, and unipolar major depressive disorders with data from a 27-year longitudinal observation study. Patients with bipolar I disorder had a 54% reduction in risk of suicidal behavior during periods of antidepressant therapy vs. propensity-matched unexposed intervals. The risk was reduced by 35% for patients with bipolar II disorder, but there was no increased or decreased risk with regards to suicidal behavior in unipolar disorder patients taking antidepressants. While patients with bipolar I and II disorder may benefit from the protective effects of antidepressants for suicide risk, physicians should be aware that the same effect does not appear to apply to patients with unipolar major depressive disorder.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 05:54:02 +0000