[Antidepressant treatment and risk of suicidal attempts. A case series report]

Scientific evidence that fluoxetine is one of the effective treatment of depression exists. Since 2000, a debate has been launched concerning the possibility of antidepressant drugs, especially, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor to induce suicidality in some depressive patients. Suicidal attempts of 3 of the outpatients taken into care in a crisis center in Geneva, following the introduction of fluoxetine in the usual dose of 20 mg per day, led us to investigate and to carry out a non-exhaustive comprehensive literature review of available randomized trials, meta-analyses and epidemiological studies. This work enabled us to highlight some points of interest, including medical attitudes and therapeutic guidelines that sometimes seem to be contradictory, especially regarding the use of antidepressants in children and adolescents.