No Therapy for Patients on Antidepressants

Gina O'Brien poses in her Howard City, Mich. home in this July 16, 2006, file photo. O'Brien is battling addiction to prescription antidepressants with little success. (AP Photo by Adam Bird, File) (Adam Bird - AP)

Meanwhile, the number of children taking antidepressants dropped 18 percent in the first three months of 2004, an earlier study by Medco found.

"That's something a lot of people are concerned about," Laughren said.

That's because for many patients, not treating depression is more dangerous than the slight increased risk of suicidal behavior at the onset of treatment _ from 2 percent to 4 percent, according to 24 studies in children reviewed by the FDA.

"Ten percent of patients with severe depression will kill themselves" without treatment, said Dr. Richard A. Friedman, director of the psychopharmacology clinic at Cornell University's medical school.

Overall antidepressant use, which rose about 10 percent a year early in the decade, rose by less than 2 percent last year before picking up slightly this year, according to health information company IMS Health. U.S. sales exceeded $12.5 billion last year.

Besides major depression, drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Lexapro, Effexor, Celexa and Wellbutrin are prescribed for patients with anxiety and panic disorders, premenstrual syndrome and social phobias.

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On the Net: http://www.medco.com

FDA site on antidepressants: http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/antidepressants/default.htm