title: Suicide risk during anticonvulsant treatment.
abstract: Recent research findings suggest possible increases in risk of suicidal behaviors among patients treated with anticonvulsants. The available evidence appears to support such a risk more clearly for patients diagnosed with epilepsy rather than with primary psychiatric disorders. However, the studies involved are limited by providing associational findings that may be confounded by several uncontrolled variables. Such limitations should be considered in future research on adverse effects of anticonvulsants and other centrally acting drugs. For now, however, clinical prudence calls for routine, ongoing assessment of mood and suicidal thoughts among neurological or psychiatric patients, whether or not treated with particular drugs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Functions, Suicide Prevention Center Sant'Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. maurizio.pompili@uniroma1.it
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pompili
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tatarelli
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Girardi
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tondo
authors.forename: Ross J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Baldessarini
mesh_terms: D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D017891:Pharmacoepidemiology; D012306:Risk; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants