"Perhaps they are so depressed that they lack motivation to complete suicide, and recovery gives them enough motivation to complete suicide but not enough mood recovery to stop."
That was the propaganda explanation that pharma companies created so they could still sell their drugs even though they cause suicidal ideation and increased suicide rate. It doesn't actually make any scientific sense though, because if you give healthy control volunteers SSRIs then they still have increased levels of suicidal ideation.
>if you give healthy control volunteers SSRIs then they still have increased levels of suicidal ideation.
Do you have a citation for this? I've only ever heard the "too depressed to commit suicide" theory, so if there's evidence for the alternative, I'd be really interested in seeing it.
Thanks.
I must say I do not put a lot of faith in that study after reading about their method. Firstly the sample size is too small. They had 20 people, 2 of which become suicidal.
Secondly, they compared two antidepressants against each other, but did not have any placebo.
I would advice against drawing any strong conclusions from this.
My understanding is that he was going to replicate the results in a larger sample but the pharma industry got him fired before he could do this. The research is pretty convincing as is though when its viewed in the context of all the other research showing the same thing.
And in any event, it's the best research we have. The idea that SSRIs make people suicidal by eliminating their depression doesn't even make sense, because placebos are just as effective as SSRIs for treating depression but they don't cause an increase in suicidal ideation or actual suicides.
That was the propaganda explanation that pharma companies created so they could still sell their drugs even though they cause suicidal ideation and increased suicide rate. It doesn't actually make any scientific sense though, because if you give healthy control volunteers SSRIs then they still have increased levels of suicidal ideation.