SSRI Antidepressants May Do More Harm Than Good Against Autism: Study

Published: August 10th, 2010

The findings of a new study suggest that physicians may not be helping by prescribing SSRI antidepressants off-label to treat autism, and may actually be harming patients instead. 

An analysis of the effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for autism in adults and children were published this week in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Researchers say that there is little evidence that giving the medications to autistic patients has any effect. In fact, the patients may be being exposed to the side effects of SSRI antidepressants despite the lack of measurable benefit.

Doctors frequently prescribe SSRIs to autistic children to help with behavioral problems, and to adults for anxiety and depression. Some estimates suggest up to 40 percent of autistic children are being dosed with antidepressants to control their behavior. But last year, a study found that the SSRI Celexa was no more effective than a placebo in affecting autistic behavioral symptoms.

The latest U.S. government funded meta-analysis looked at 271 participants in a number of randomized controlled trials. Adults and children were given either Prozac, Luvox, Celexa or fenfluramine; which was an SSRI used in weight loss products such as Fen-Phen and Pondimin, both of which have been removed from the U.S. market due to health risks. Researchers again found that SSRIs appeared to have no effect on the behavior of children with autism, and very little effect on adults with autism combating depression and anxiety.

“There is no evidence of the effect of SSRIs in children and emerging evidence of harm,” researchers warned in their conclusion.

SSRIs are a relatively new class of antidepressants, which help reduce symptoms of depression by preventing certain nerve cells in the brain from re-absorbing the chemical serotonin. These drugs are commonly used by millions of Americans with depression.

Although the drugs have been found to cause fewer side effects than older anti-depressants, research has shown that users of the drugs could also face an increased risk of suicides, and use during pregnancy has been linked to a risk of birth defects from SSRI antidepressants.