Antidepressant medication prevents suicide in depression.
OBJECTIVE
Ecological studies have demonstrated a substantial decrease in suicide in parallel with an increasing use of antidepressants. To investigate on the individual level the hypothesis that antidepressant medication was a causal factor.


METHODS
Data on the toxicological detection of antidepressants in 18 922 suicides in Sweden 1992-2003 were linked to registers of psychiatric hospitalization as well as registers with sociodemographic data.


RESULTS
The probability for the toxicological detection of an antidepressant was lowest in the non-suicide controls, higher in suicides, and even higher in suicides that had been psychiatric in-patients but excluding those who had been in-patients for the treatment of depression.


CONCLUSIONS
The finding that in-patient care for depression did not increase the probability of the detection of antidepressants in suicides is difficult to explain other than by the assumption that a substantial number of depressed individuals were saved from suicide by postdischarge treatment with antidepressant medication.
Isacsson
G
G
Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. goran.isacsson@ki.se
Reutfors
J
J
Papadopoulos
F C
FC
Ösby
U
U
Ahlner
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015984:Causality; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013548:Sweden; D055815:Young Adult; D000092864:Suicide Prevention
D000928:Antidepressive Agents