Citation

Pelfini C. G. Ital. Dermatol. Venereol. 2007; 142(6): 703-710.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Edizioni Minerva medica)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

When asked "Have you ever thought of committing suicide?" 7.2% of people with psoriasis and 5.6% of people with acne say they have, according to a recent research by Dehen et al. who also say that "The prevalence of depressive symptoms among patients seen at a hospital dermatology department was 23%", nearly the same percentage as that of people with cancer. Depression is a well-known suicide-predisposing factor, and quite recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has examined an important group of antidepressants as likely to be responsible for an increase in the risk of causing depression, suicide ideation or attempted suicide. In addition to these, there are risks, suspected or proven, connected with the use of drugs for dermatological treatment, such as antimalarial agents, corticosteroids, gabapentin and, of course, isotretinoin. Isotretinoin is the fifth most common drug, which has been reported to be associated with depression and the tenth with suicide by Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) USA. This, of course, is not sufficient to prove direct responsibility and there is no formal epidemiological evidence, from either treatment cohort studies or large-scale population studies, for an association between isotretinoin use and depression and suicide. There is, however, case report evidence that isotretinoin is associated with the development of depression and suicide ideation and attempt and the possibility of a relatively rare idiosyncratic adverse effect remains.

Language: en

Keywords

human; Depression; suicide; Suicide; bipolar disorder; Antidepressive agents; suicidal ideation; depression; prevalence; anxiety; psychosis; suicide attempt; acne; isotretinoin; risk factor; review; migraine; mental disease; antidepressant agent; disease predisposition; medical practice; panic; malaria; delirium; Acne; corticosteroid; postherpetic neuralgia; gabapentin; psoriasis; body dysmorphic disorder; neuropathic pain; Isotretinoin; mefloquine