FDA Forced To Re-evaluate SSRI Antidepressants ?
Q: For years the Food and Drug Administration has debated whether Prozac
and related antidepressants could trigger suicide or other violent
acts. For the most part, the agency has dismissed such concerns as
rare or unrelated to the medications.
A:are there any studies done, that you know of, on the dangers of bipolars
taking SSRI's without any corresponding mood stabilizers like Depakote or
lithium? It seems to me that many bipolars are mistakenly put on AD's alone.
Granted, not the whole story but definitely a contributing factor.
Concerns about possible risks of switching to mania
associated with antidepressants continue to interfere with the
establishment of an optimal treatment paradigm for bipolar depression.
My psychiatrist has mentioned that "normal" antidepressants exacerbate
bipolar disorder, so at least some of these folks are aware of the
problems.
That;s good to know - i truly hope it is true and
a medical marker for bipolar disorder; it would
make Lithium a magic bullet contrary to Dr. Healy's
hope that there are such drugs in psychiatry.
I would agree that there no magic bullets...except maybe ourselves. Jake,
what do make of assertion that remission rates are, in fact, lowered with a
combination of medication and CBT. Do you imagine that it is the CBT working
by itself...if so, you need to get published as you are putting a great
deals of psychiatrist's to shame. :) Let's suppose the risk is this: The
brain is extremely complicated. Our understanding of it is rudimentary. (I
think we all agree with that.) So, when we attempt to "medicate" it we run
the risk of causing bigger potentially