Looks like this one has been blown out of proportion, at least for adults. This study of a large number of patients sees no increased risk of suicide due to anti-depressant use. Sounds like the FDA may be willing to back off on the cautionary labeling as a result of this study.

Antidepressants Don't Appear to Raise Suicide Risk, Study Shows

Jan. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Antidepressants such as Wyeth's Effexor and Eli Lilly & Co.'s Prozac don't appear to pose a higher risk of suicide in the six months after they're prescribed, a study says.

The attempted suicide rate found in the months after treatment began was 90 per 100,000 people while the suicide rate was 40 per 100,000 people, the study found. Neither figure represents an increased risk ``after starting antidepressant medication,'' the researchers wrote.

``The overall suicide risk associated with antidepressants is low,'' said researcher Gregory Simon, a psychiatrist with the Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, in a telephone interview. ``This conventional wisdom that risk goes up after treatment doesn't seem to be true."

(more at link to story below)

Bloomberg news - ADs and suicide risk