Adequacy of Antidepressant Treatments After Discharge and the Occurrence of Suicidal Acts in Major Depression: a Prospective Study

The authors prospectively studied the adequacy of antidepressant treatment & its impact on suicidal acts in the 2 years after hosptialization for major depression. They found that major depression in the follow-up period increased the risk of a suicide attempt sevenfold. For each suicide attempt in a subject’s history, the risk for an attempt in the follow-up period increased by 30%. They also found that antidepressant treatment during the follow-up period was mostly inadequate. Implications are discussed. (48 refs)