![[picture of John Mann, M.D. <i>Suicide & Antidepressants</i>]](http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/news/pics/mann_john_90.jpg) John Mann, M.D. Suicide & Antidepressants,
The role of antidepressant medications in the risk of suicide has been a point of contentious debate within the psychiatric medical community over the past several years. A leading expert on this issue is J. John Mann, M.D., a nationally recognized expert in suicide who has published more than 400 papers and edited 10 books on the subjects of the biology and treatment of mood disorders, suicidal behavior and other psychiatric disorders. Dr. Mann was one of the pioneers who showed that suicide was related to deficient serotonin input to the region of the brain that regulates impulse and decision-making, resulting in more impulsive behavioral traits. That finding suggested that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor medications, also known as SSRI drugs, should reduce the risk of suicidal behavior by increasing serotonin function. Recently, Dr. Mann published findings in the American Journal of Psychiatry (Nov. 2006 issue), that antidepressants reduced the rate of suicide attempts in major depression compared with no medication. This study was carried out in the Veterans Administration patient population and the beneficial effect was just as strong in 18-26 year olds as in older adults. This finding contradicts the Food and Drug Administration's "black box" warning for SSRIs. Since the FDA issued this black box warning in Oct. 2004, the rate of antidepressant prescriptions in children has decreased significantly. If SSRI medications are not used to treat depression, the rate of suicide among U.S. children and adolescents could increase by more than 250 attempted suicides each year, according to Dr. Mann and his team. This prediction has been confirmed using the latest data form the Centers for Disease Control and as of mid-2007 the FDA is faced with the rare circumstance of considering whether to repeal the black box warning. Dr. Mann is the Paul Janssen Professor of Translational Neuroscience (in psychiatry and radiology) at Columbia University Medical Center and chief of the Department of Neuroscience at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Additionally, Dr. Mann is director of the National Institute on Mental Health's Conte Center for the Neuroscience of Mental Disorders, director of the Stanley Center for Applied Neuroscience of Bipolar Disorders, and president of the International Academy of Suicide Research. For press inquiries, please contact Elizabeth Streich (eas2125@columbia.edu or 212-305-6535). For patient inquiries, please contact Dr. Mann's clinical office via 212-543-5571.
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