Comment in:
·
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
1991 Sep;30(5):849-50.
·
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.
1991 Sep;30(5):850-1.
Emergence of
self-destructive phenomena in children and adolescents during fluoxetine
treatment.
King RA, Riddle MA, Chappell PB,
Hardin MT, Anderson GM, Lombroso P, Scahill L.
Yale Child Study
Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
06510-8009.
Self-injurious ideation or behavior appeared de novo or
intensified during fluoxetine treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder in six
patients, age 10 to 17 years old, who were among 42 young patients receiving
fluoxetine for obsessive-compulsive disorder at a university clinical research
center. These symptoms required the hospitalization of four patients. Before
receiving fluoxetine, four patients had major risk factors for self-destructive
behavior including depression or prior suicidal ideation or self-injury. Three
hypotheses concerning the apparent association between fluoxetine and these
self-injurious phenomena are discussed: (1) coincidence; (2) disorganization of
vulnerable individuals secondary to drug-induced activation; and (3) a specific
serotonergic-mediated effect on the regulation of
aggression.
