The connection between prozac and suicide

can prozac make someone suicidal?

• When you hear these allegations, it is important to keep in mind a few things about Prozac, antidepressants in general, and depression.
• Depression and suicide are highly associated. As many as 10 to 15 percent of depressed patients commit suicide. Some 50 to 70 percent of all suicides are committed by people with depression. So when a depressed person is suicidal and taking antidepressants it's easy to fall into the error of attributing the suicidal thinking and behavior to the drug rather than to the disease.
• Although it seems paradoxical, doctors have known for some time that as depressed people's conditions improve -- influenced by drugs or even spontaneously -- a small percentage become, for a time, more suicidal or even suicidal for the first time. The period of improvement can represent a danger period for seriously depressed individuals. Withdrawn, inhibited, shut-down depressed people gain energy and spontaneity , while still significantly depressed, and this can translate into suicidal "energy." Treating depression is not a simple matter of just taking a drug. Careful professional supervision and follow up are necessary. Unfortunately, self-help treatment - say, with St. John's Wort -- carries the danger of inducing some people to go it alone.
• For some individuals, Prozac and other antidepressants have an energizing effect (as described above) sometimes more aptly described as agitating or anxiety-producing. This side effect can be mitigated or avoided by such measures as starting treatment at a low dose, raising the dose slowly, and using another medication -- a mild tranquilizer -- for awhile. Sometimes, however, the drug must be discontinued. Besides the points above, remember Prozac is used safely by millions of people.
  
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