In August 2011, another case of an antidepressant-related suicide was reported. A 35-year old man named Wade Belak, who was a retired National Hockey League player, was found dead in a downtown hotel in Toronto, he allegedly committed suicide. An article in the Globe and Mail reveals that his mom knew that Belak was battling depression and was taking antidepressant drugs. Suicides seem to evade an easy explanation. So, the exact reason of Belak’s suicide is almost impossible to determine.
According to Medical Publishing’s Prescription Medicines, Side Effects and Natural Alternatives, in June 2001, a jury in the state of Wyoming determined that the antidepressant drug Paxil caused a man to murder his wife, daughter, and granddaughter before committing suicide. $8 million in damages were given to the family of the victims.
In 2005, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released Public Health Advisories saying that antidepressant intake can aggravate suicidal attempts. But these advisories were considered late by the Paxil victims. The FDA further mandated the drug manufacturers to clearly place explicit label warnings about the antidepressant’s negative side effects especially the risks of suicide attempts.
Depression Leads to Suicide
“Trying to escape from a situation that seemed impossible to deal with or to get relief from really bad thoughts or feelings” is what most patients reason out in the therapy after their suicide attempts. In other words, they were suffering from depression.
Depression is ruminated as a brain disorder. The causes of depression could be environmental, psychological, genetic or biochemical factors such as taking drugs and alcohol.
People suffering from depression may have feelings of worthlessness, guilt, regret, helplessness, hopelessness and self-hatred.Insomnia and oversleeping are also common patterns for depressed individuals. The criteria for depression include digestive problems, migraines, fatigue, reduced sex drive and social activities withdrawal.
In extreme depression cases, unpleasant hallucinations, psychosis, memory loss, poor concentration and suicide are among the symptoms.
Suicide is now an object of multidisciplinary scientific study with sociology, anthropology, psychology, and psychiatry. Suicide insights are provided by these branches.
Taking antidepressant and talk therapy are the known treatments for depression. Most patients do both. However, antidepressant like Paxil, which is supposed to treat depression, can increase the risk of suicide as clinical trials and researches found out. As mentioned above, the FDA has already released different cautions regarding Paxil intake.
Thus, if you are taking Paxil or you know someone who does, consult your doctor immediately if you have doubts on how it is working on you. At present, a number of Paxil Lawsuit have been filed against its manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline. Victimized patients aim to receive a financial compensation from the company. To find out more about Paxil cases, seek legal advice.
References:
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_depressive_disorder
- nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/depression.html
- webmd.com/depression/news/20070502/new-antidepressant-suicide-warning
- mcmanweb.com/FDA_suicide.htm
- washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/13/AR2006121300452.html
- naturalnews.com/019342.html