Auto Accident Risk May Be Increased With Antidepressant Use: Study

New research suggests that taking antidepressants, sleep or anxiety medication, such as Prozac, Zoloft and Ambien, may increase the likelihood of getting into an auto accident.

A study published this week by the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology examined the potential link between motor vehicle crashes and four classes of psychotropic drugs; antipsychotics, antidepressants, benzodiazepines (BZDs), and Z-drugs.

Overall, the study found a significant increase in motor vehicle accidents with people taking antidepressants, BZDs and Z-drugs before driving. It did not, however, find a link between consumption of antipsychotic medications and motor vehicle accidents.

BZDs and Z-drugs, such as Ambien and Valium, are a type of psychoactive drug that is used to help treat patients with insomnia and anxiety. Known side effects include drowsiness, headache, dizziness, lightheadedness and diarrhea among other side effects.

Chia-Ming Chang Ph.D. and the study’s other coauthors from Taiwan analyzed data from more than 5,000 people and their related vehicle accidents after consuming some form of psychotropic drug. The researchers compared this data with data from 31,000 people who had no record of car accidents.

The findings revealed a higher risk of suffering a car accident after taking an antidepressant or anxiety medication anywhere from one day, one week or even one month prior to the accident.

No similar effect was found for the antipsychotic medications, no matter how high the dosage.

The antidepressants focused on in this study, selective serotonin uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), involve a class of drugs commonly used to treat depression. SSRIs help relieve the symptoms of depression by preventing nerve cells in the brain from reabsorbing serotonin.

Medications that are part of this class include the blockbuster drugs Paxil, Zoloft and Celexa, which have been thought to have fewer side effects than older antidepressants, but have faced increased scrutiny in recent years following several studies that identified potential safety concerns.

Known side effects of SSRIs can include nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, headache, diarrhea and dizziness. However, research has also suggested that pregnant women who take antidepressants have a higher risk of giving birth to a child who will suffer from seizures and have increased risk of birth defects. Other studies have also shown an increased risk of stroke in women who take medications such as Zoloft and Prozac. SSRIs have also been linked to an increased risk of suicides with a much higher risk of suicides among teens, five times higher than that of teens not taking SSRIs, according to other medical research.