This question must be answered with great moderation and certainty. I come to it in the first place because of the large number of psychiatric medications that introduce the word SUICIDE in its negative contraindications. And that is why it never hurts to delve into this matter, especially if we take into account the intake of these products by an uninformed society, and on many occasions little interested in knowing the risks it runs.
The most direct and immediate answer could be YES. Various psychiatric medications may, in various cases, increase the risk of having suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Above all, at the beginning of certain treatments and during dose changes. On many occasions, when certain pills are prescribed by family doctors, there is no true analysis of the issue, and although there is always talk of monitoring, the truth is that for many people this is not the case. Would psychiatrists do better? I doubt it.
Now, to be honest, the above does not mean that medications, that is, their intake, are the direct cause of suicide. However, they do influence certain factors that temporarily increase the risk. Something that is not given enough attention.
Antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors – SSRIs, such as fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine and other modern antidepressants, can, without a doubt, cause some symptoms that should be monitored with some urgency, in the first weeks: increased anxiety or agitation, insomnia, increased energy, and all this before perceiving a presumed improvement in depression. In short, one may find oneself needing to carry out an activity, but with very little energy to do it, which would generate a feeling of frustration and helplessness that would not help in the search for certain solutions. For this reason, various associations, such as the FDA and the EMA, agencies specialized in the regulation of medicines, have been warning for several years now that there is a risk of increased suicidal thoughts in adolescents and young people (up to about 25 years old), especially what we emphasized before, at the beginning of treatment.
Other medications that also have a series of negative contraindications are mood stabilizers and antipsychotics. Some of them can cause severe side effects or psychological discomfort, such as anxiety, extreme restlessness or akathisia. The latter (akathisia) is a syndrome characterized by a feeling of restlessness and an inability to sit still. This side effect can cause, apart from the physical effect, also a mental effect that will require treatment. It’s the whiting that bites its tail. You go to the doctor, he gives you a medication for a “presumed” disease A, which causes a “presumed” disease B, for which you must receive another type of medication, therefore if you do not follow the treatment carefully, the medications can become a way of destabilizing you permanently and for life, not to mention the pit into which you could fall. Furthermore, when you reach that state, you appear in your medical journal as MENTALLY ILL, and therefore your criteria will no longer be taken into account: What will you know if you are mentally ill?.
All the experts consulted agree in making it clear that the basic diagnosis (the first) has to be extremely precise, so that the dose and type of medication can be established. Subsequently and taking into account the danger that may occur in the first week, it is vital to establish permanent and urgent medical supervision; The latter, if we take into account the saturation of medical services, the only thing that generates are problems and more problems that only affect the patients, who from that moment on, and because of this, can fall into social discredit. “he is mentally ill”, that will affect your emotional state and even the creation of ideas delirious or suicidal.
Having said the above, I claim the right for no one to ever be called mentally ill and not to give power to doctors and psychiatrists, so that with the excuse of said label they can medicate people as they see fit.
We acknowledge The European Times for the information.
