Youth Reluctant to Seek Mental Health Care Post-Black-Box Warning on Antidepressants

Stephen Soumerai, ScD Credit: Harvard Medical School Ever since the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued black-box warnings on antidepressants, youth have been reluctant to go on medication for their depression, a recent study found.1 “Our goal was to assess the intended and unintended outcomes of the youth antidepressant warnings by conducting a systematic review of the most credible evidence in the field,” said lead investigator Stephen Soumerai, ScD, Harvard Medical School professor of population medicine at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, in a statement. 2 “We screened all available research reports on the warnings, focusing on those that met rigorous research design criteria and synthesized the most trustworthy data available.” Evidence as early as 2003 has shown antidepressants may be associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors among youth.1 To be transparent, the FDA added this black-box Warning to antidepressants in 2005 for youth < 18. The warning was extended to individuals ≤ 24 in 2007. The FDA hoped a black-box warning would lead people to be more self-aware of the potential risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior and monitor these symptoms. However, a systematic review discovered the warning led to a whole other outcome: the reduction of...