Kan behandling med antidepressiva läkemedel påverka sjukdomens svårighetsgrad och självmordstankar/självmordshändelser hos barn och ungdomar med egentlig depression?

Sammanfattning: Abstract Suicide is a public health problem that, in addition to loss of human life, leads to extensive psychological suffering and impairment of the health of relatives. It is common that suicide occurs under the influence of mental illness such as personality disorders and depression. Depression is a serious condition that often causes severe suffering. Depression can affect all ages, i.e. children, adolescents, adults and the elderly and it is as costly as heart disease. In Sweden, depression is one of the most common psychiatric diagnoses. About 19 percent of the population (16-84 years) have been diagnosed with depression at least once in their lifetime.  Of these, almost one in three have been diagnosed more than once. The affected individual performs poorly in daily activities such as school, work and in social settings. Additionally, there is increased risk of suicide in depressed individuals. Accordingly, it is important to treat depression to reduce suffering. Depression in children was accepted as the same disease as in adults since 1980. Today, depression is treated primarily with first-line therapy SSRIs. The aim of this work was to examine the effect and safety of antidepressants in the treatment of major depresive disorder in chlidren and adolescents with special reference to suicidal activity and self-injury. To implement this study, scientific articles were obtained in Pubmed, and five articles were selected. Study 1 showed that the combination of fluoxetine and CBT, cognitive behavior therapy, had better effect than treatment with only flouxetin or with only CBT. Study 2 showed that suicidal events and ideation were least among the group treated with the combination of fluoxetine and CBT compared to the treatment with only fluoxetine or only CBT. Study 3 showed that more suicide-related events occurred among the group with previous non-suicidal self-injury, NSSI. Study 4 resulted in greater medical response and better remission in escitalopram patients compared to placebo. Study 5 showed that treatment with venlafaxine caused serious adverse events that led to many discontinuing treatment. Treatment with antidepressants, especially in combination with CBT, can reduce the severity of depression in children and adolescents and reduce suicidal ideation and suicide attempts in some patients. In cases of treatment failure a risk of suicide and self-injury remains. Previous self-injury increases the risk of future self-injury as well as the risk of future suicide attempts.