Patients who take antidepressants are at highest risk of self-harm in the weeks immediately after the drug is prescribed, an analysis of more than 8.4m health records has found.
The researchers say while the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned since 2004 that antidepressants can increase suicidal behaviour, little is known about when the potential threat is greatest.
Antidepressants are also estimated to take up to eight weeks to begin working, with side effects common before mood lifts.
According to Axios Health, the report from the research arm of electronic health records company Epic looked at data between 2017 and 2022 of patients with no history of self-harm or suicide attempts before being on antidepressants.
The analysis doesn't break down types of self-harm, which can include but is not limited to attempted suicide.
The 12-to-17 age group had the highest rate of self-harm at 0.39%, being nearly five times more likely to report a self-harm event in the first few months of being prescribed antidepressants, compared with the general population.
Teen girls, who the CDC in February found are experiencing record levels of sadness and violence, were especially at risk of self-harm.
Men in the 18-to-24 age group were slightly more likely to harm themselves than women of the same age.
Active antidepressant prescriptions also doubled between 2017 and 2022, signalling the increased use of depression treatment during the pandemic.
Although researchers did observe an increase in self-harm soon after patients started antidepressants, most first-time self-harm events occurred among patients (69%) who were not on antidepressant medication.
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