Assessment of Reported Adverse Events on Anti-Depressants

Abstract

A mental disorder is characterized by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior. One in every eight people around the world was living with a mental disorder in 2019, with depression and anxiety the most common. Currently, popular prescribed types of antidepressants include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). For such medications, limited adverse effects and reasonable tolerability are critically important in addition to the efficacy in treating depression and their affordability. In this study, I quantitatively assessed the adverse events reported in the comprehensive FAERS (FDA Adverse Event Reporting System) database in terms of case count by received year, by age group, by sex, by reaction type, and by outcome, with respect to those commonly used antidepressants. Although the total count of adverse events increases every year before 2019, my analysis shows an alarming decrease in total count over the COVID pandemic period (2020 & 2021) while the number of people with depression rose significantly because of the pandemic. “Completed suicide” turns out to be one of the main side reactions reported across all anti-depression medications. Statistical analysis demonstrated that the reported number of “completed suicide” correlates with the report number of “suicide attempt” (or “suicidal ideation”). Surprisingly, the reported case count by females is significantly larger than that by males regardless of the grouping approach. It was evident that such insights could provide meaningful guidance on strengthening mental health systems for COVID-19 & future public health emergencies and further support relevant scientific studies on adverse effects & tolerability of effective antidepressant medications.