September 17, 2007

Anti-Depressants Prevent Schizophrenia?

From today's Sydney Morning Herald:

"ANTIDEPRESSANTS could prevent the onset of schizophrenia if prescribed before the first psychotic episode, a ground-breaking study by a Sydney researcher has found."

You can go read the rest. Most of you know that I am fairly dubious of all this prodrome identification talk going through psychiatry these days, especially as relates to the controversial PRIME study at Yale. So are some researchers.

But all the same, it's nice to see someone doing some research using less toxic agents than antipsychotics. Not that anti-depressants aren't plenty toxic on their own. Of course, this research would have to be replicated many times before it could become a line of treatment--and there are all manner of ethical questions about giving SSRIs to youngsters as well as how accurately doctors can identify psychosis before its first onset. But those are questions for another day.

Posted by Philip Dawdy at September 17, 2007 12:01 AM
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No way. The day you prove to me antidepressants prevent rather than encourage the onset of psychosis I'll hang up my hat and stop commenting on this blog. So "prodomal" kids who went off their meds became psychotic -- no surprise there -- they were in withdrawal. And the post mortem kids who were on antidepressants had twice as much BDNF as those who weren't -- be sure to let us know exactly how those kids on antidepressants died? Just how many were suicides? I'm not convinced that medication induced increases in these proteins is really anything like naturally occurring levels of the same thing.

Posted by: Sara at September 17, 2007 02:16 PM

Next we will hear giving anti-depressants to newbornes prevents depression!

Posted by: Jane at September 17, 2007 04:56 PM

From the article:"Within a decade I think we will see quite a paradigm shift with this disorder," Dr Shannon-Weickert said. "It won't help the people who currently have schizophrenia, but it stop future generations from developing it."

I have a personal problem with that comment, due to hearing those words 8 years ago when my daughter was dx childhood bipolar disorder and was loaded up on antidepressants with bad outcome from use[suidical ideation, self-harm, agitation].She cannot tolerate any SSRI's and has it as an "allergy" status in her medical chart as a result.[Prozac,Zoloft,Luvox,Imipramine]SO, this leads into the Prodrome thought using my daughter as a case here: she exhibits psychosis, hears voices, responds to [after trialing all current antipsychotics]Clozaril. IF and HOW comes into mind. How would anyone have known she was possibly in a prodromal period to age 19, and still has not been dx schizophrenic, because no doctor wants to label her with that, nor do I frankly. What I was told 8 years ago was just about the same thing re: Childhood Bipolar/Bipolar in general,"Within the next decade and most of all in her lifetime there will be a CURE." She bought into that, and all I can say is look at her now. She's in a psych ward and she is not cured. Meds didn't prevent a damn thing in her case. Just food for thought.Interesting side note; she was offered to enter McClellan's study of 3 antipsychotics at the U.W. at age 17. I would rather look into the Alzheimer's drugs, because in my daughter's case, she quite resembles an Alzheimers or dementia patient. I think that is what needs to seriously be looked at; and it means seriously studying the brain, and most psychiatrists don't discuss the brain.

Posted by: Stephany at September 17, 2007 05:57 PM
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