UHS Says Meds Are Worth the Risk

A recent finding that antidepressant medications increase suicidal tendencies among young adults has caused mental health professionals at Harvard to worry that depressed students will be less likely to seek treatment.

“The bottom line is, leaving depression untreated causes the chances of an individual committing suicide to increase,” said Paul Barreira, director of behavioral health and academic counseling at University Health Services (UHS). “This study does not suggest these medications should be avoided. It shows there needs to be increased awareness of the risk involved in taking any type of drug.”

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel Wednesday called for the use of warning labels that explain the increased suicide risk on medication intended for patients under the age of 24. Previously, the FDA had only warned about this risk for those under age 18.

Richard D. Kadison, chief of mental health services at UHS, wrote in an e-mail that the FDA report should not scare people away from seeking treatment.

“[In] large literature reviews the actual number of suicide attempts and completed suicides is lower in people treated with medication,” Kadison wrote. “The early risk is probably due to transient side effects of increased energy and jitteriness when people first start medication before the antidepressant effect kicks in, which can sometimes take two or three weeks.”

Both Barreira and Kadison said that treatment for depression should involve vigorous oversight by medical professionals.

Barreira estimates that six percent of Harvard undergraduates receive antidepressants from UHS but that it does not keep track of all students taking the medication.

“There is an unknown percentage of students across the College using antidepressants privately,” Barreira said.

“Unfortunately, we only find out about other cases if there is a crisis,” he added.

According to UHS Director David S. Rosenthal, undergraduates are not required to submit health information beyond the pre-matriculation survey required of incoming freshmen.

“Sixty to 70 percent of all students are covered by the parents’ health care plans,” Rosenthal said. “If they are, we may not have the most updated medical records on file. If there’s an emergency, the closest file might be a mile or 8,000 miles away.”

“It’s definitely a concern of ours,” he added.

The National Institute of Mental Health has called for the link between antidepressants and suicide to be explored further before widespread action against antidepressant prescription is taken.