Do Antidepressants Increase Suicidality? Does The Black Box Warning Help or Hurt People?

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 29, 2023

Because of the black box warnings (also known as boxed warnings) on antidepressants, many people think that antidepressants cause suicidal thinking, suicidal behavior, and suicide. The black box warning on antidepressants is, after all, the strongest warning the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can place on a medication. However, the black box warning on antidepressants was authored almost 20 years ago, and we have learned a lot and have synthesized a lot of data since then. Does this more recent data indicate that antidepressants increase suicidality or cause suicides, and what can we learn from this new information? Should we be scared of the risk of suicidality with antidepressants? (TL;DR here.)

Why Aren’t More Drugs Approved for Bipolar Disorder?

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 12, 2017

Thoughts on My Time with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Have you ever considered why more drugs aren’t approved in the treatment of bipolar disorder? I have. I, specifically, wonder why there aren’t more drugs for bipolar depression, considering that the depressed state outweighs the presence of mania/hypomania 3:1 in many cases. Here’s what I think about why there aren’t drugs getting approved for bipolar disorder.

Antipsychotic Warning, Saffron for Depression, Polypharmacy – 3 New Things

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Sep 8, 2011

It’s a bit of a short week what with the holiday and all, but still, there is time for three new things about mental health. Today’s three new things are:

A safety warning on the atypical antipsychotic drug asenapine maleate (Saphris)
Saffron and depression
Multi-drug (polypharmacy) treatment of mental illness

Psychiatric Disorders in Children – Diagnosed and Medicated

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Apr 20, 2010

I have bipolar-disorder-type-II-ultradian-cycling. I diagnosed myself when I was 20 years old, and once I finally agreed to see a doctor, he agreed sometime thereafter. My diagnosis was fairly easy for me. I’m very self-aware and I could pick out discrete moods and swings. But as a 20-year-old, in university, using research, and having a fairly high IQ, this is not terribly surprising. If I were five-years-old, the picture would have been a little different.

Epidemic of Children Diagnosed with Mental Illness

There is an epidemic of children, as young as two, being diagnosed with psychiatric disorders in North American right now. It’s made the cover of Time magazine and countless articles have been written on the phenomenon.

So, Antipsychotics are Now Approved for Children

It was once thought that disorders like bipolar did not occur before adulthood, but thoughts on this seem to be changing as diagnoses go up and more drugs are approved for treatment of children.

Antipsychotics FDA-approved for use in children (under 18) is:

Quetiapine (Seroquel) – schizophrenia, ages 13-17; bipolar I, ages 10-17
Olanzapine (Zyprexa) – schizophrenia and bipolar I, ages 14-17
Risperidone (Risperdal) – schizophrenia, ages 13-17; bipolar mania, ages 10-17; autism, ages 5-16

And so on. And of course, doctors are free to prescribe any medication off label to children just like adults.

AstraZeneca Accused of Hiding Seroquel Dangers

Posted by Natasha Tracy | May 25, 2009

AstraZeneca plays hot potato with Seroquel side effects. Here are the highlights from the article (bold and italic text added by me):AstraZeneca E-mails Show Debate on Seroquel RisksAssociated Press – May. 20, 2009TRENTON,...

L-methylfolate as Antidepressant Enhancing Agent

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Jan 6, 2008

I do a lot of psychopharmacology research reading. Like, a lot. I try to post things that I find interesting and not bore you with everything else. Similarly, I try to post things that are decently easy to read and understand....