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  • Title: Use of antidepressants in deliberate self-poisoning: psychiatric diagnoses and drugs used between 1987 and 1997 in Lund, Sweden.
    Author: Bäckman J, Ekman CJ, Alsén M, Ekedahl A, Träskman-Bendz L.
    Journal: Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol; 2003 Dec; 38(12):684-9. PubMed ID: 14689172.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVE: Based on the increased prescription of antidepressants, the aim of this study was to analyse the changes in self-poisonings with antidepressants during the period 1987-1997. METHODS: A total of 909 patients who were admitted to hospital after deliberate self-poisoning were investigated regarding psychiatric diagnoses and drugs ingested. RESULTS: In the whole group, there was no significant change in the rate of antidepressant overdoses between 1987 and 1990 (20%) and 1995 and 1997 (17 %), but among females with a mood disorder overdoses decreased from 43% to 22% (p = 0.01). The proportion of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in self-poisonings was significantly lower than expected from sales figures. CONCLUSION: The increased antidepressant sales have not caused an increased use of antidepressants in self-poisonings. It is, therefore, tempting to assume that an increased use of antidepressants for appropriate indications causes decreased self-poisoning rates.
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