Some antidepressants raise violence risk - study

[Celebration]

http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=governmentFilingsNews&storyID=2006-09-11T235952Z_01_N11235219_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-ANTIDEPRESSANTS.XML

Newer antidepressants, already suspected of raising the risk of suicide, may also cause a few people to become violent, researchers reported on Monday.

They found that people who took GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK.L: Quote, Profile, Research) (GSK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) antidepressant Paxil were twice as likely to have what was called a "hostility event" as those given a placebo.

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David Healy and David Menkes from Cardiff University in Britain and Andrew Herxheimer from the Cochrane Centre used several sources of information to see what the risk of violent behavior was among people taking SSRIs.

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They found that 60 out of 9,219 people who took Paxil or 0.65 percent, had "a hostility event," compared to 20 of 6,455 given a placebo, or 0.31 percent.

[hedgehog]

1. I'm going to have a hostility event

towards anyone who takes my anti-depressants away.


On edit: Maybe the people who got hostile finally surfaced long enough to take care of whoever was stressing them out in the first place! This data may actually be measuring what happens to people who get stressed with no way to respond - they get depressed.

[Tellurian]

5. Hedge

You're taking the placebos.:)

:toast:

[Donnachaidh]

2. Know of at least 2 people who attempted suicide while using Paxil

WHY is this stuff still on the market?

There are other anti-depressants out there.

[darkmaestro019]

4. Horrible stuff.

Sleepy, groggy, still depressed, inorgasmic. And they give it to you for ANYTHING from depression to anxiety to mania to smoking cessation, anything. That's their first choice. And I'm not the only person--I've told everyone I know that's going to a doc for ANYTHING "mental" "They're gonna give you Paxil, and it won't do shit." I wish I had the sense to place bets on it, I've been right every single time.

Translation, let's throw this at EVERYONE and see if anyone gets better!

They have no idea what it does. But I bet it makes them a mint. Bastards.

[Odin2005]

15. They give the depressed person just enough ambition...

...that they kill themselves.

[darkmaestro019]

3. I wish to the gods I could find one that worked

A certain green plant slated for genocide works wonders. Anything a doctor ever handed me to fix my depression left me just as depressed, even more sleepy, and unable to orgasm. Lovely, that's doing WONDERS for my mood, you guys.

(sigh) (is a mutant, I guess)

[Turtlebah]

8. The plant is the only thing that

works for me too.Although I'm on Effexor, it doesn't really work.. only cannabis does the trick. Which is why it's still illegal. Pharma co. will lose big bucks if it's legalized. And it WILL be legal, soon :-)

[WhiteTara]

9. up your meds Turtlebah

but don't give up the green! Welcome to DU :hi:

[justice1]

6. 99.35 % of people taking Paxil don't experience "hostility events".

[trotsky]

10. Quiet, you!

Didn't you get the memo, this is a big-pharma medicine-bashing thread?!

[justice1]

11. Lol, I am sorry please continue.

[1932]

7. I read somewhere that a lot of those high school students who have shot up

their schools in recent years (including Columbine) were on Ritalin, or some other drug.

Of course, there's a chicken and egg question here, but it was ineresting, and I suspect it never got discussed fully in the media is because drug companies underwrite media in the US.

[Sgent]

12. Suicide risks

are also much higher in those who undergo psychotherapy -- I imagine that the increased risk of violence would be there if it were studied.

Anything that causes a semi-catatonic depressed person to be slightly less depressed, will increase the chance of suicide until they are no longer severely depressed.

Violence I would assume is similar -- the person still has the thoughts of hurting others, but now can get the sustained motivation to actually do something about it. In addition, any antidepressent will potentially send a previously undiagnosed bipolar person into a manic / dysphoric state, which will greatly increase aggression.

The real question is, whether this drug is any worse than any of the other available treatments.

[spoony]

13. Excellent points n/t

[NMMNG]

14. "A hostility event"?

And I suppose they have proof that the antidepressant users never experienced a "hostility event" prior to taking the medication?

As if. :eyes: