While cases of SSRI-induced violence and suicide are relatively rare, other side-effects are not.
According to published data, up to 70 per cent of patients experience sexual dysfunction ranging from genital anaesthesia to an inability to achieve erections, which can be worrying in youngsters — especially if they don't realise it's their medication that's actually to blame.
Professor Timimi recalls one such case, a 17-year-old boy with impotence who suffered 'a great sense of shame' as a result.
'Antidepressants are not a quick or easy fix, especially for young people where the data shows little benefit over harm,' says Andrea Cipriani, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Oxford.
'We don't know how they affect the developing brain.'
Studies in juvenile rats have shown that giving them SSRIs early on creates changes in brain circuitry and maladaptive behaviours that persist into adulthood — these include increased anxiety-like behaviour, a reduced ability to avoid harmful situations, reduced sexual function, and sleep problems
