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How do we Safely Treat Depression in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults?

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Abstract

Increasing concerns about the safety and efficacy of antidepressant drugs for children, adolescents and young adults have been countered by claims that reduced prescribing of antidepressants may have dangerous consequences. This leaves clinicians unsure as to how to weigh up the evidence and apply it to their patients. This paper promotes an approach of evaluating the evidence in each study according to the importance of the outcomes being measured in that study. It finds that on important measures such as mortality, hospitalization and quality of life, the evidence is unfavourable for antidepressants in this population. Here, an approach is suggested that primary care physicians might adopt with their depressed young patients. Through a combination of ‘watchful waiting’ and physical and emotional rehabilitation, physicians can actively intervene without reliance on medication or psychotherapy.

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Acknowledgements

Jon Jureidini was engaged by the law firm Baum Hedlund to provide an independent analysis of the data in GSK’s Study 329 of paroxetine, and is chair of Healthy Skepticism, an international nonprofit organization with a main aim of countering misleading drug promotion. No sources of funding were used in the preparation of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Medicine, Children’s, Youth and Women’s Health Service, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, 72 King William Rd, North Adelaide, South Australia, 5006, Australia

    Jon Jureidini

  2. Disciplines of Psychiatry and Paediatrics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Jon Jureidini

  3. Department of Philosophy, Flinders University, South Australia, Australia

    Jon Jureidini

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Correspondence to Jon Jureidini.

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Jureidini, J. How do we Safely Treat Depression in Children, Adolescents and Young Adults?. Drug-Safety 32, 275–282 (2009). https://doi.org/10.2165/00002018-200932040-00002

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