Child depression drugs soar

Child depression drugs soar
By Ewin Hannan, Amanda Dunn
April 26, 2004
For hot man-boy love...

Use of antidepressants in children and adolescents soared during 2003, with an increasing number of doctors prescribing drugs that Australian health authorities explicitly warn should not be given to children.

New Federal Government figures reveal that 250,000 antidepressant prescriptions were issued to children and adolescents last year, a 30,000 increase on 2002.

The Government's drug regulator, which is reviewing the use of the drugs in children, told The Age that several drugs were likely to be ruled inappropriate for use in patients under 20.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration is also considering restricting access to antidepressants currently available to children and adolescents through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Under the proposal, discounted antidepressant prescriptions would be available only on the written recommendation of a child psychiatrist or pediatrician.

The action comes amid mounting international concern about the safety of a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in children and adolescents.

Evaluations of clinical data by British and American authorities have found evidence of increased suicidal behaviour among adolescents taking some of the SSRIs.

Britain concluded that the risks outweighed the benefits for all SSRIs except Prozac.

The Australian Government has recommended two brands, Efexor and Aropax, should not be used in children and adolescents. It says data regarding the efficacy and safety of SSRIs in children is inconclusive, and doctors should prescribe them cautiously.

Figures provided by the Health Insurance Commission show more than one-fifth, or almost 56,000, of the antidepressant prescriptions issued last year were written in Victoria. Nationwide, three-quarters were written for adolescents aged 15 to 19 years while 9727 scripts were issued to children aged five to nine years.

More than 650 prescriptions were issued to children up to four years of age. Psychiatrists said the drugs prescribed to these children were predominantly used to treat autism and severe behavioural disorders.

According to research by the University of NSW general practice statistics and classification unit, GPs issued up to 88,000 prescriptions for antidepressants to children and adolescents last year.

Louise Newman, chairwoman of the faculty of child and adolescent psychiatry of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, said the college had urged the TGA to ban GPs from prescribing antidepressants to children and adolescents.

However, she acknowledged the proposal might be impractical due to a shortage of child psychiatric services. The college had also called for increased monitoring and recommended prescribers report to the Health Insurance Commission whether the antidepressants had been effective.

The TGA's principal medical adviser, John McEwen, said there was a "real possibility" the Australian review would find that the use of some antidepressants in children and adolescents was inappropriate.

He said the Government was awaiting the findings of an investigation into SSRIs by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Australian Medical Association vice-president Mukesh Haikerwal said it needed to be acknowledged that depression was a common condition in young people - too common for its treatment to be restricted to specialists.

These anti-depressant drugs are under-reseached and dangerous. I have been on many anti-depressants. I first started taking them when i was 16. Infact they made me worse. I can clearly remember one night when i went to st.vincents hospital emergancy here in melbourne because i was having an anxiety attack.. the GP on call (without knowing ANY of my medical history and without getting any advise from a psychiatrist) put me on the anti-depressant paroxitine (aropax).. I started taking this immediatly and it was pure hell.. I remember not being able to sleep for days.. i was manic walking around wanting to kill myself and tear my skin off.. it felt as if something were inside my body trying to get out.. i had morning sickness.. i would get out of bed after the little sleep i got and would head to the bathroom and puke my guts up.. i thought all these were normal and the doctor told me they were and to keep taking the drug.. i couldnt leave my apartment because the minute i did it felt as if someone were standing on my chest.. my pupils were dialated.. i couldnt concentrate on anything.. there came a point where my mate had to cuff me to a table because i just wanted a knife to kill myself.. keep in mind, i wasnt depressed.. it just felt as if something where eating me inside out.. i couldnt take it anymore so my mate took me to another clinic where i saw the attending psych and he told me to stop the aropax.. these symptoms stopped within 12 hours.. its truely amazing how these anti-depressants can fuck with you.. what i find even funnier is the fact that after all of these reactions that these drugs have with other people and myself they still rnt taken off the market.. GPs shouldnt be prescribing these meds.. they give them out like candys.. I also had a one year withdrawal hell from the anti-depressant ZOLOFT.. i had to quit school and was sick as a dog for the best part of a year.. everytime i would stop taking that shit it felt like my brain was being zapped everytime i moved my head.. and funny enought when i took a zoloft it all went away.. and my fucking doctor had the nerve to say that this wasnt addiction.. its addiction in my book..

The truth is, these drugs dont cure depression, they just cover over the problem... for severe cases they are most likely usefull.. but who decides what is severe and what isnt? GPS? i think not... haha.. and what i find most ironic is the fact that LSD (an illegal drug) has cured me from all my problems.. i have a normal life now and dont rely on anti-depressants..

I advise everyone out there to think carefully before taking anti-depressants.. make sure you always get a 2nd opinion..

^^ Top post. I agree with a lot of what you're saying. Sounds like you did it rough mate, I hope you're doing ok now however

I do not believe that anti-depressants are ever effective enough in treating depression to warrant the image of a panacea they often carry. I've known a few (3) people who've done courses of SSRI's and 2 of them found they were better off without them altogether. While they were on them they turned into 'zombies', and upon getting off them both expressed relief with 'being able to feel things again'. They remain rather unhappy people, but the SSRIs sure didn't help much.

There seems to be an underlying assumption in the treatment of depression with drugs that the person has no reason to be depressed; they're having upsetting feelings about something because their brain has a chemical imbalance, not because they've actually got something to be depressed about. It's part of human nature to be sad, happy, angry and at times, depressed!

I think what a lot of these kids need is a damn good psychiatric consellor to listen to them, interpret what they're saying and see what's wrong. There could be all manner of issues that are causing the depression, and need talking, not drugs. Feeding them drugs without any kind of psychological examination gives them the impression whatever could be causing their depression is not worth being depressed about, which in turn could just create more psychological issues.

What about the ebb & flow of hormones many young people experience. Surely that can effect their moods, attitudes and behaviour. It doesn't mean they need SSRIs though, does it? I'm not saying depression caused by a chemically imbalanced brain doesn't exist... But seeing as we don't really know what a chemically balanced brain is, I'd like to know how exactly it was concluded that anti-depressants designed to correct such imbalances are effective treatment?

Yes, I know they say that people who are depressed have lower levels of serotonin than people who aren't. That's a symptom of depression, not necessarily a cause. The more unhappy thoughts you're having, the less serotonin will be in your brain. So the depression is being caused by something that's happening in your life, it could all too easily be branded a chemical imbalance and treated as one.

I hope that all made sense. Anyway, that's this weeks rant from the resident young drunken idealist

I truely believe this is where an intensive session of MDMA (or LSD as stated above) and a psychiatrist would save people a lot of time and pain.

This is quite simply a reflection of society and where we are headed!

cheers eKLaB

I truely believe this is where an intensive session of MDMA (or LSD as stated above) and a psychiatrist would save people a lot of time and pain.

Click to expand...

You can't just think they're wonder drugs. The use of mdma and lsd for treatment is interesting, but I would actually like to know how useful it is.

I never said they were wonder drugs, but when used in controlled areas with trained psychiatrists has been shown time and time again in the past to be a fantastic method.
They are actually currently doing FDA sponsered studies in the USA for using MDMA as a controlled treatment in psychiatric patients. Looking forward to see the results.