Putting warning labels on anti-depressants may put more teenagers at risk for suicide, according to a new study by the University of South Florida and University of Illinois.

Professors Hendricks Brown and Robert Gibbons studied depressed teenagers who were taking different classes of medicines and those who were not taking any drugs. They also looked at the medical records of teenagers who had successfully committed suicide. They found that when a teenager began a drug regime, he or she had fewer attempts at suicide. They also found that very few of those who had successfully killed themselves were taking antidepressants at the time of their deaths.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for teenagers. Last week the Center for Disease Control announced a spike in the number of teen suicides, particularly among girls.

Dr. Brown believes the increase in suicide may be related to warning labels newly mandated by the Federal Drug Administration. The labels warn that taking certain antidepressants may cause an increase in suicide ideation among young people.

"With the FDA warnings, there has been a rapid lowering of antidepressant prescriptions and a corresponding increase in youth suicides," he wrote. "We found similar results in the Netherlands once the warning was broadcast there as well."

This study appears in the September 2007 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

If you're worried your child is thinking about suicide, then an adolescent residential treatment center that offers programs for troubled teens may help.

Labels: antidepressants, medictions, suicide