The Washington Post, June 12, 2018.
More than a third of American adults are taking prescription drugs, including hormones for contraception, blood pressure medications and medicines for heartburn, that carry a potential risk of depression, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Dima Qato, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy who led the study, said that while there has been attention to social factors that increase risk for depression, there is often little attention to the role of medications.
“We know polypharmacy is growing, we know it is not always promoting good health and longevity in patients, and we know a lot of drugs have certain adverse effects — and one of them is depression and suicidal symptoms,” Qato said. “As a pharmacist, when a patient comes in and reports depressive symptoms, I just think it’s really important to think about what other medications they are on.”
“Even if the same doctor is prescribing drugs, the fact is that it’s really difficult — there’s no software that tells a doctor, ‘your patient is on three drugs that predispose them or are associated potentially with depression or suicidal symptoms,’” Qato said.