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Prozac 'no better than placebo' for treating children with depression, experts

(www.theguardian.com)
206 points pseudolus | 1 comments | 21 Nov 25 00:02 UTC | HN request time: 0.233s | source
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shswkna ◴[21 Nov 25 00:33 UTC] No.45999858[source]▶
From the article:

> They can also increase suicidal ideation.

A very close family member committed suicide, after Prozac dosage adjustments made his brain chemistry go haywire.

This happened 30 years ago, and it has been known to us that Prozac can cause this, since then.

The Guardians headline is way, way understating the real situation here.

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carsoon ◴[21 Nov 25 00:39 UTC] No.45999887[source]▶
The problem with suicidal depression is that if someone has created the thought pattern that death is best, then removing the symptoms of depression (lethargy, lack of energy, no willpower) now gives the person the ability to actually follow through with the act.

Medications almost always target symptoms and never address root causes.

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1. kayodelycaon ◴[21 Nov 25 01:00 UTC] No.46000011[source]▶
Yup. Depression medication can significantly help the emotional symptoms, but that takes longer to be effective.

I’m bipolar and a lot of the medication I take does not become fully effective for months. For me, my medication slowly became more effective over years as my brain no longer had to compensate for hardware problems.