OBJECTIVE To examine trends in types of antidepressant medications prescribed in Australia between 1975 and 2002. DESIGN Sales data from the Australian pharmaceutical industry were used to examine trends in overall antidepressant prescribing and changes in the types of antidepressants prescribed between 1975 and 2002. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Antidepressant sales were expressed as defined dail...

This prospective cohort study compares the breastfeeding outcomes of women exposed to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants at the time of delivery, those who discontinued use prior to delivery, and those not exposed. Participants include 466 pregnant women who enrolled in the California Teratogen Information Service Clinical Research Program (CTIS) over 10 years. In biv...

The authors review the literature pertaining to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)-induced apathy syndrome. A literature search of Medline and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts from 1970 to the present was performed for relevant articles. Twelve relevant case reports and one open-label treatment trial were identified. An amotivational, or apathy, syndrome has been reported in a ...

Whittington CJ, Kendall T, Fonagy P, et al. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in childhood depression: systematic review of published versus unpublished data. Lancet 2004;363:1341–5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...

I n an ecological study in this issue of PLoS Medicine , Milane and colleagues found a temporal association between prescription of specifi c serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants and suicide rates in the United States [1]. Their study addresses a subject of great public health importance and clinical interest. The researchers asked the question: was the use of antidepressants ass...

In this issue of Neuron, Richardson-Jones et al. report on a novel genetic approach to conditionally and specifically dampen the function of the 5-HT(1A) autoreceptor in mice to study its role on the 5-HT system and on the antidepressant-like effect of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) fluoxetine.

It has long been postulated that a deficiency in CNS serotonergic activity is the cause of, or a predisposing factor for, depression. [1] However, the evidence for this association is largely circumstantial and it certainly does not represent an adequate and full model for depression, probably due to there being multiple aetiological factors. [2] Some pharmacological trial data also cast doubt ...

OBJECTIVE To analyze trends in antidepressant (AD) prescription rates among the elderly (aged 65 years and older) in Alberta during 1997 to 2004. METHOD Numerical data on AD prescriptions were obtained from Alberta Blue Cross. Age-standardized prescription rates were calculated according to type of AD. RESULTS The prescription rate for all ADs combined increased by 59% for men and 55% for w...