Antidepressants increase risk of suicide attempts, but decrease risk of dying

Suicidal individuals taking antidepressant medications appear to have an increased risk of additional suicide attempts, but a reduced risk of dying from suicide or any other cause, according to a large Finnish study. Doctors analysed data for suicide attempts between 1997 and 2003. Information about 15,390 hospitalised individuals was gathered through Finnish national registries and databases. Among the 7,466 males and 7,924 females in the study, 602 suicides, 7,136 suicide attempts leading to hospitalisation and 1,583 deaths were recorded during follow-up. {openx:269} The risk of completed suicide was 9 per cent lower among those taking any antidepressants than among those…