Depression

[Bible Believing Bill]

Originally posted by StraightAndNarrow:
This is an extremely misleading statement. In fact, in most cases exactly the opposite is true. Taking the appropriate medication prevents a large number of people from committing suicide. The existence of a very few teen-agers who took Prozac and then committed suicide is probably more indicative of pressure from their parents or peers not to take medication until it was too late.

StraightandNarrow,

My intent was not to say children who take antidepressants will commit suicide. My point was thatsomeone who is depressed and/or Bipolar is at increased risk of suicide due to their illness. We can not ignore the fact that most medications for mental illnesses have not been tested for treatment of children. That dosn't mean they are not useful, it simply means we don't know how children will react to these medications. There is a documented increased risk of suicide in children who take certian antidepressants. We can't ignore that fact, but as someone else pointed out the benefits can and often do outweigh the risks.

Bill