Antidepressants Are Not Effective In Children And Young People, According To A Study

Medications aimed at treating mental disorders have proven very useful in clinical practice, but they also have their drawbacks. Although in many cases they allow us to mitigate certain symptoms that negatively affect the quality of life of those who suffer from them, it is also true that In all cases they have side effects on the patients’ body

The side effects, as well as the dependency that certain psychotropic drugs can generate, make it worth exploring alternatives.

Drugs to treat mental problems in children: a good idea?

When the potential clients of these substances are younger people, such as children and adolescents, the possibility of using invasive methods to alter the biological dynamics that occur in their nervous system is even more dangerous, taking into account that the changes produced at such ages early can be decisive in its growth.

That is why an ambitious meta-analysis of several investigations has recently been carried out in which The effectiveness of antidepressants in children and young people of both sexes was evaluated The results, published in the scientific journal The Lancet, show that these drugs are much less effective than previously thought, or at least with regard to their effects on younger people. In fact, they could increase the risk of suicidal thoughts (and behaviors).

How was the meta-analysis performed?

The meta-analysis has been carried out by a team of researchers led by Dr. Andrea Cipriani, from the University of Oxford. It includes a review and statistical analysis based on 34 trials based on the effectiveness of 14 antidepressants in young people. In total, the children and adolescents studied among all the investigations from which the meta-analysis was based formed a total of 5,260 individuals.

Among the factors that were taken into account in the meta-analysis is, of course, the effectiveness of antidepressants, but also their adverse effects, discontinuation and tolerance to their side effects

Results: some antidepressants don’t work

The most effective antidepressant found was, judging by the results of the meta-analysis, fluoxetine. However, the most important discovery made from this study is that The rest of the antidepressants showed an efficacy that could at most be considered very low In fact, they were not shown to be more effective than placebo. Imipramine, duloxetine and venlafaxine also generated such strong adverse effects that they caused the treatment to be interrupted, something that does not happen with placebo. In the case of the latter (venlafaxine), an important correlation was detected between taking this antidepressant and the appearance of suicidal thoughts.

It is clear that the effectiveness of this type of medication does not have to be taken for granted simply because taking these substances appears to have an obvious effect on mental processes**: these effects do not have to be those that are intended to generate**. Furthermore, psychopharmacological treatments that are effective in adults do not have to be equally beneficial in younger people, since both their body and the biological processes that occur in their neuroendocrine system are different from those of mature human beings.

It is not advisable to jump to conclusions

However, it is worth highlighting the fact that, although the findings of a meta-analysis may be more important than those of a single investigation based on a small group of people studied, This study has limitations that mean we cannot take its findings as the absolute truth

Firstly, because it was such a massive meta-analysis and based on a large amount of information, the team that carried it out could not access the microdata used in the studies on which they were based, so in part they had to trust in the good work of the scientists who preceded them.

Furthermore, the fact of working from research carried out independently of each other meant that, in part, the data that were cross-referenced in the statistical analysis were not completely comparable, as they referred to slightly different situations and somewhat different methods.

That is why This meta-analysis should be considered as a basis from which to continue researching and not as a compelling reason to have antidepressant treatments stopped immediately.