[Does antidepressant therapy increase suicide risk in children ad adolescents? - A comment]

Recent data indicate increasing suicide rates for children and adolescents in the United States, Great Britain and the Netherlands. These facts call for a critical discussion of prescription rates of antidepressants for pediatric use. Obviously the U.S. and European regulators issued public warnings about a possible association between antidepressants and suicidal thinking and behaviour have discouraged physicians to use antidepressants in this age group. Untreated depression means impairment of psychosocial development of children and their families. Alarmingly there is no evidence of a significant increase in the use of treatment alternatives as for example psychotherapy. High relapse rate with early onset of depressions are common and therefore children with depression need all our attention and best treatment available. Current Austrian suicidal statistics do not yet demonstrate increasing suicidal rates in adolescents as seen in the U.S., the U.K. and the Netherlands. Thus all our alertness is needed to avoid any analogical progress in suicide rates and despite regulatory warnings and certainly after a careful risk-benefit analyses physicians have to consider pharmacological treatment options in depressive children and adolescents.