Preliminary research suggests people who suffered fatal cardiac arrest were more likely to have taken antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs than those who survived heart attacks. But the findings haven’t been confirmed elsewhere, and it’s not clear whether the medications directly cause any problems. Those who take the drugs could have other medical issues that contribute to a higher death rate, the researchers noted. It is too early to give concrete advice” to patients who take the drugs, said study author Dr. Jussi Honkola, a researcher at the University of Oulu in Finland. “We need further studies about this possible relationship.”

Preliminary research suggests people who suffered fatal cardiac arrest were more likely to have taken antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs than those who survived heart attacks. But the findings haven’t been confirmed elsewhere, and it’s not clear whether the medications directly cause any problems. Those who take the drugs could have other medical issues that contribute to a higher death rate, the researchers noted. It is too early to give concrete advice” to patients who take the drugs, said study author Dr. Jussi Honkola, a researcher at the University of Oulu in Finland. “We need further studies about this possible relationship.”

The desspair and hopelessness that can lead to seeking ways to kill yourself

With a flurry of recent reports challenging the safety of antidepressants for unborn babies, doctors and concerned mothers-to-be are rethinking the guidelines.

Abstract Suicide takes the lives of around a million people each year, most of whom suffer from depression. In recent years there has been growing controversy about whether one of the best-selling anti-depressants – selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – increases or decreases the risk of completed suicide. Randomized clinical trials are not informative in this application because of small samples and other problems. We present what we believe are the most scientifically credible estimates to date on how SSRI sales affect suicide mortality using data from 26 countries for up to 25 years. We exploit just the variation in SSRI sales that can be explained by institutional differences in how drugs are regulated, priced, and distributed, as reflected by the sales growth of new drugs more generally. We find an increase in SSRI sales of 1 pill per capita (12% of 2000 sales levels) reduces suicide by 5%.