Someone else posted this before and I don't agree with it at all. The drug does not cause you to kill yourself or someone else UNLESS that is where you were at anyway. When people are severely depressed and it has been allowed to go untreated (by meds/therapy) for a long period of time they are already thinking those thoughts. If given meds without therapy or not frequent enough therapy this is when it happens. It is most likely that happen in the first months of being on the meds or sudden withdrawl, not taking them properly. So it is at the beginning of their medication therapy that these suicides generally occur. The meds give them their "energy" for lack of a better word, back. It does NOT make them think evil thoughts or the like. The thoughts were already there as a result of NOT being diagnosed and treated promptly enough. I will debate this one til the cows come home.
Also, it is normally the age group of late teens to early 20's that suicide. Well that is the age when chronic depression normally hits people for the first time. Most kids in that age group are not exactly open with their parents in regards to much of anything going on in their lives therefore when these symptoms occur they are not forthcoming with them so go untreated for long periods of time. Even attentive parents sometimes do not see the struggle their kids are going through during this time. Many I assume shrug it off to moody, hormonal teens and young adults. This is become soooooooooooo prevelent today where kids are resorting to suicide and the media will always say the kid was on anti-depressants if that is the case but they never give the whole story, the kid went a year or two not being treated or diagnosed PRIOR to finally seeking help. By then it is a serious issue and can have a horrible result.
There IS one drug I know of that is an anti-depressant/ anti anxiety and it is Wellbutrin (sp) it was not only used for an anti-anxiety and depression it was also used for people attempting to stop smoking. I personally knew close friends and relatives that could not take it as it made their already moody selves moodier and angry almost aggresive. It is also happens to be one of the few anti-depressants that has a laundry list of side effects as well as a high risk of drug interactions which can cause serious problems. Many of the cases where suicide occurred and ant-depressants were believed to be at fault, Wellbutrin was the medication in question. I've yet to meet a person who has successfully taken the drug although clearly there are people who have or it wouldn't still be on the market. I do not understand why because one of the worst issues with the drug is it's inability to be mixed with some of the more common over the counter drugs people might use while taking the medication. Medicines such as inhalers for asthma as well as simple over the counter allergy pills given to someone taking Wellbutrin have led to serious drug reactions. There is an ingredient in it and also Zyban that has a really bad track record for causing side effects mostly DUE to other medications or supplements the person is already taking. Everyone I know that used it for stopping smoking couldn't handle the side effects which appeared to be exacerbated by Wellbutrin. Anxiety is a common withdrawal symptom for those stopping smoking. Apparently a side effect of this particular anti-anxiety drug is in fact ANXIETY. WTH. Why is it still on the market. Chantax is another one that causes extreme side effects. My husband had such a bad time attempting to quit smoking using it that he too became depressed and had horrible nightmares. Many birth control drugs have been linked to extreme aggression as well as IUD's. So it is not uncommon for other drugs to alter one's behavior yet you never hear about these as a cause of suicide in Chantax's case or assaults or DV blamed on birth control when in fact they probably happen more frequently then we know.
I happened to look into this particular thing when I saw my daughter's demeanor change incredibly when she first started taking BC. I too had an issue with them back in the day and the doctor had me try 3 different brands. Each one resulted in me having these hormonal meltdowns. I gave up and refused to take them. When it happened to my daughter I did an online search and stumbled onto a forum where young women from young teens to women in their 30's were discussing it. They 'actually felt they were going crazy because they were acting so bizarre while taking these drugs yet felt normal again weeks after stopping taking them. They themselves figured out the drug was the problem. My daughter had major issues and chose an IUD. It did a total number on her. She refused to have it removed but it caused crying jags, depression, and for her the worst was a horrible case of cystic acne. A kid that didn't have more then a few pimples in all her teens woke up one day and her face was horrific. My personal opinion is NOTHING should be planted in you for 5 years at a time. Your body will fight it and there has to be a lot of hormones in there to last 5 years!