Antidepressants have become common drugs in our advanced society. These drugs can be defined as any of a class of drugs that is used to treat depression, which often have undesirable side effects. Such drugs include the well known brands: Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Wellbutrin and Celexa. Although most of these drugs had been developed for adults, these drugs are now being prescribed regularly to teenagers and children who are diagnosed with mild cases of depression.

Recently, the US government has put tough warnings on the drugs to alert doctors, parents and patients that antidepressants increase the risk of suicidal behavior among children and teens. The dosage of drug will be administered individually for each patient. The warning applies to a host of popular antidepressants including Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, and many others. Antidepressants have faced public scrutiny because of a government scientific review in September showing that they increase the risk of suicidal behavior in children by as much as 3%.

In September 2004, a US Food and Drug Administration advisory committee called for labels of all antidepressants to get a "black box" warning about the risk of increased suicidal rates in young people. Such warnings are used to signal extremely serious side effects for a prescription drug. This recommendation is for all antidepressants, including newer categories such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and older ones, such as tricyclics. The committee's proposal appears likely to encompass newly approved products. The committee, however, did not urge the agency to recommend against the use of any of the antidepressants for young people.

The danger of antidepressants continues to loom even with all the labels and advisories warning against them. Given these statistics, antidepressants should be taken as a last resort, especially among young people. Other treatment options should be explored. For example, cognitive- behavioral therapy enables therapists to help depressed clients to develop more optimistic ways of thinking and reduce their tendency to blame themselves for negative outcomes. In some cases, cognitive restructuring is combined with practice at using logical thinking, anxiety management techniques, and skill training, which are all designed to help clients experience success and develop confidence in situations where they had previously expected to fail.

If you are currently taking antidepressants and would like to look for an alternative treatment, contact your doctor and ask about the possibilities. If you would like to learn more about depression visit http://www.clarocet.com/depression.htm

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