<p>AP-"CHICAGO - New government figures show a surprising increase in youth suicides after a decade of decline, and some mental health experts think a drop in use of antidepressant drugs may be to blame.</p>
<p>Suicides climbed 18 percent from 2003 to 2004 for Americans under age 20, from 1,737 to 1,985 deaths. Most suicides occurred in older teens, according to the data </p>
<p>I find this sad. I hope it isn’t because of the black box warnings, but that certainly is a possible explanation. Do you think the decrease use is because of the warnings or a stigma attached to mental health drugs?</p>
<p>I work with hospitalized seniors. I hate to see meds thrown at them to “cure” situations, when the person just needs help accepting new surroundings and limitation. I really hate when needed antidepressants are witheld because family doesn’t want “psych” drugs. Sometimes they are willing to accept that grandma needs an antidepressant just like grandpa needs insulin-sometimes not.</p>
<p>Yes, that is indeed sad. I find it inexplicable that in our society, which treats so many illnesses with pharmaceuticals or herbal supplements, there is a reluctance to treating a disease with a drug that could actually save a person’s life. And how many young people turn to substance abuse to treat their own depression? It’s a shame.</p>
<p>Could be greater availability of illicit prescription opiates (easier to OD on.)</p>
<p>It 's a tremendous challenge for college aged kids who are not being monitored by parents anymore to take regular medication on a timely basis. Throw in alcohol and recreational drugs that tempt all kids even when the combination with the prescription meds can be deadly, and you can get some very dangerous situations. Some of the effects of mixing and matching that way can plunge someone with mood disorders into a major depression with deadly consequences. The other factor that arises is that many of these kids who are on mood meds or ADD meds are finding a brisk market for their prescriptions. If they sell their meds, they can’t be taking them.</p>
<p>over the past few years we have known several children who died by their own hand.
I feel that the stories about antidepressant warnings are to blame in many cases.
In newspaper articles it is always downplayed at the risk of suddenly stopping medication and the rebound effect it has.
SSRIs cannot be suddenly stopped.
Yet I have done so myself- partially because there is a real stigma and shame involved in being treated for mental illness and I think especially teens are vulnerable to wanting to fit in. ( not taking meds)
Also, so impulsive are they.
The teens we have known died by jumping great heights, not an overdose of morphine.
Very impulsive and no turning back with that method.</p>
<p>The late teen/early twenties are the time when mood/emotional/mental/psychiatric disorders most commonly rear their ugly heads. Frightening that it often occurs away from home so that those who know them best are not around. The change in life style, rules, values, schedules, challenges, can also be the trigger to these illnesses that may have been lying dormant. You hope that your kid goes to the counseling center if he is struggling with these demons. The problem is that the consistency needed to treat such disorders is more discipline than most of us can handle, much less a college kid with other priorities who may be off/on with symptoms. Also these disorders do not mix well with the lifestyles of many college students with the substance abuse, hazing, ragging, lack of sleep, poor nutrition, lack of structure, and emotional upheavals due to relationships. Any combination of factors can cause a tipping point.</p>