Pediatric Depression
This is a controversial topic and has piqued the interest to explore it further because of the potential adverse impacts, specifically increased risk for violence/aggression, of SSRI therapy in treating adolescent depression. Depression is an overwhelming phenomenon for which there is a wide array of treatment options. It has been suggested and heavily scrutinized that the use of antidepressant medications in the treatment of depression in adolescents and young adults can increase violent or suicidal behavior (Bielefeldt, Danborg, & Gotzsche, 2016). Youth violence is a growing and significant public health concern that results in the premature death of thousands of people annually (David-Ferdon et al., 2016). Due to the seriousness of this often-silenced epidemic, it has long been the CDC’s goal to prevent youth violence from occurring in the first place (“CDC ,” 2021). To successfully achieve this health promotional goal, providers must strive to better understand and address questionable and contributing risk factors. Youth violence can be prevented (David-Ferdon et al., 2016).
It was reported two weeks ago that an adolescent boy from Iowa was arrested for brutally stabbing his parents to death with a knife and axe inside their home. When the authorities arrived at the scene of this tragic crime, the 17-year-old teen was sitting outside his house and claimed the reason behind his violent act was that he just wanted to regain control of his life (Casiano, 2021). Where, as a society focused on the promotion of health and prevention of youth violence, is the gap, that so many mentally unstable young people slip through the cracks without early screening and treatment intervention? What are the safest interventions for treating an underlying pediatric depression or other behavioral disorders? If there is a better and safer form of antidepressant therapy for adolescents and young adults than the typical first line SSRI pharmacotherapy, then more statistically significant research evidence is needed to support this theory (Maroun, Thackeray, & Midgley, 2018). The only way to determine best practice standards is to challenge the existing ones.
References
Bielefeldt, A., Danborg, P. B., & Gotzsche, P. C. (2016, October 11). Precursors to suicidality and violence on antidepressants: Systematic review of trials in adult health volunteers. JRSM, 109(10), 381-392. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0141076816666805
