A to Z Health Guide 2007

Since 2003, when investigators began reporting that antidepressant drugs may cause young people to have suicidal thoughts, families and doctors have agonized over the best way to treat depression in children. Which is worse: untreated depression, which can lead to suicide, or drugs that can lead to thoughts of it? And how often do suicidal thoughts lead to suicidal acts anyway? This year the worst fears of the pro-medication group seemed to be realized when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that suicide rates in young people ages 10 to 24 were up 8% from 2003 to 2004; another study found that during this period, new prescriptions for antidepressants fell, perhaps because of the fears about them. The studies did not establish a direct correlation, but they left some people worrying that forgoing the drugs might have caused the problems — and left parents and kids more confused than ever.