The pharmaceutical industry has developed some powerful drugs that can blunt some of the more serious imbalances in brain chemicals that are linked to depression, but it’s unclear how those medications can affect still-developing brains.
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The most commonly prescribed antidepressant to young people in the United States is Setraline also known as Zoloft, however, the researchers stated that this particular drug was found to be nearly ineffective in treating depression symptoms.
The team conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of all unpublished and published double-blind, randomized controlled trials up to May 2015 that assessed the treatment of major depression among children and adolescents.
Further, Cipriani affirms that Prozac in young people’s treatment should be considered only in two particular cases: “in patients who do not have access to psychotherapy sessions or in the case of not responding to non-pharmacological interventions”. For example, the proportion of kids and teens taking an antidepressant rose from more than 1 percent to almost 2 percent in the United States, Cipriani said.
Earlier this year, a study found a link between certain antidepressants and higher risk for aggression, as well as increased engagement in suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts among young people. One study published in March of this year, also in The Lancet, found antidepressant use increased from 1.3 to 1.6 percent in US children and teens from 2005 to 2012.
One of the co-authors of the study, Prof. He said psychological treatment such as behavioral therapy should be tried before prescribing drugs, echoing the recommendations of some current guidelines.
Bell said he would be happy to refer his inner-city patients to social services and therapy, but they’re “pretty much nonexistent” in the communities he serves.
These medications are used to treat commonly diagnosed cases of “major depressive disorder”, which affects roughly 3 percent of children and 6 percent of adolescents.
Jureidini said that before prescribing an antidepressant, a doctor must be sure the benefits will outweigh the harms.
A report published in the Medical Xpress said, “The balance of risks and benefits of antidepressants for the treatment of major depression does not seem to offer a clear advantage in children and teenagers, with probably only the exception of fluoxetine”.
It is recommended that young people on antidepressants – regardless of the drugs prescibed – should be closely monitored, particularly at the start of their treatment.
“We can’t be completely confident about the accuracy of the information contained in published and unpublished trials”, lead author Andrea Cipriani at the University of Oxford said in a statement.
“Patients’ privacy must be guaranteed by adequate policies and technological measures, but delay in implementing responsible data sharing policies has negative consequences for medical research and patient outcomes, as demonstrated by this study”, he added.
One called venlafaxine was linked to a greater risk of suicidal thoughts in kids with major depression. They also noted that numerous clinical trials they relied on for evaluating antidepressants were funded by drug companies, which can result in poorly designed trials and in selective reporting of findings.
There is a limited number of studies regarding the use of antidepressants in children, so Cipriani says, “we should not underestimate these children because the potential risks”.
Treating mood disorders in children and adolescents is a tricky business.
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Benson adds that for some, antidepressants aren’t the be-all-end-all treatment, but at the same time, it’s critical to appreciate that leaving depression unaddressed, especially among children and teens, can be just as detrimental to their well being. For example, the proportion of USA children and teenagers (aged 0-19 years) taking antidepressants increased from 1.3% to 1.6%, and in the United Kingdom from 0.7% to 1.1% [3].
