Can drugs make you commit suicide?

Answer 1

The basic answer is, No -- no drug commercially available either OTC or by prescription has the effect of making anyone who takes it want to commit suicide. However...

Wanting to commit suicide is a complex situation, often involving psychological, neurological and pharmacological aspects, as well as environment, physical condition, etc. It's not ONE thing; it's many. And so, over time, there has been testing that points to an increase in suicides if certain drugs or drug combinations are taken by certain individuals (i.e. not Everyone).

Starting or stopping some medications, including some antidepressants has been associated with an increase in suicide attempts in some studies, and with some individuals. Whether this is an actual trend, a statistical anomaly or testing mistake is unknown at this time. And why one person will experience a decrease in depression, and another an increase is also unknown.

What we thing we've seen, in general terms, is as follows:

• Suicidal ideation may increase when the antidepressant is first administered.
• Suddenly stopping antidepressants (as opposed to tapering the dosage down) seems to increase the likelihood of suicide attempts, and should be avoided normally.
• Some meds designed to be taken in conjunction with another anti-depressant may increase suicidal ideation. This seems to be especially true in teens and young adults, as opposed to the 30+ crowd.
• Some antidepressents work great with some people but increase depression with others -- no known reason why this is.
• Some modern sleeping medication courses may correlate with an increase in suicide attempts, especially at the beginning of the course of medication. Again, this effect seems more pronounced with younger subjects ad often is not prescribed for under 18.

Two ideas to leave you with: Depressed people have a greater incidence of suicide attempts, so testing for depression with the depressed is Very hard to do -- you can't tell if it's a medication or some other variable that's causing the effect you're observing. Second, if you're depressed or think you might be, be especially alert when changing medications (and not just antidepressants) -- Remember that an increase in depression may not be your self speaking, but may be a result of your medication.