Newsroom
December 2006
-
San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute & Society Calls for Increased Access to Treatment for Antidepressant Users
Contact: Mary Tressel
925-798-9421
mary@tresselpr.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute & Society Calls for Increased Access to Treatment for Antidepressant Users
San Francisco, CA – December 15, 2006 – In the wake of Wednesday’s Food and Drug Administration’s meeting regarding labeling changes on antidepressants, the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute & Society (SFPI&S) takes issue with the recommendation to include warning labels on antidepressant medications.
On the other hand, SFPI&S does support the FDA’s recommendation for careful monitoring of patients being treated with antidepressants, especially as treatment begins.
The organization maintains that psychotherapeutic counseling and/or psychoanalysis provided in tandem with antidepressants offers the most effective treatment regimen for depressed individuals.
"Antidepressant medications, when properly prescribed, prevent suicide. They do not cause it.
The problem with the black box labels is that they discourage patients from seeking treatment and they discourage doctors from prescribing antidepressants for fear of malpractice suits," says Mark I. Levy, M.D, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst with 30 years of experience treating patients with depression.
After modern antidepressant medications were introduced in the early 1990s, suicide rates in the United States fell markedly.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week that the suicide rate in teenagers increased slightly in 2004, for the first time in more than a decade.
Many blame this increase in suicides on the warning labels required by the FDA on antidepressants which caution of a risk of suicide in children and teens who take the drugs.
"The solution to the anecdotal instances of suicide among patients taking antidepressants does not lie in labels.
The solution is better education of primary care physicians regarding appropriate follow-up care once the medication has been prescribed," says Dr. Levy.
He suggests patients be seen within a week of beginning antidepressant drug therapy, not the standard six-week waiting period currently practiced, to monitor their emotional and physical reactions to the drugs.
Dr. Levy is a faculty member and public information committee member of SFPI&S.
To schedule an interview with him on the topic of suicide and antidepressant therapy, please contact Mary E. Tressel at 925-798-9421.
The San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute and Society (SFPI&S) was founded over 65 years ago.
This nonprofit organization has a membership of over 160 practicing analysts and more than 45 candidates (psychoanalysts in training).
Psychoanalysts are experienced mental health professionals, already possessing advanced degrees (MD’s, PhD’s, LCSW’s or MSW’s), who have undergone at least eight years of psychoanalytic training.
# # #
News Room is
published as a service to the media by the San Francisco Foundation for Psychoanalysis.
Managing Editor: Mary Tressel (925) 798-9421
