Can anti-depression medications cause suicidal thoughts?

In young patients: Anti-depressant medications like Prozac (fluoxetine) have been found to increase suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children and adolescents under the age of 25, especially when they start this medication. This trend is not seen in adults over the age of 25 and anti-depressants may decrease suicidal behavior in older adults over 65.

Sometimes: Increased suicidal thinking has been noted as a possible side effect of antidepressant medications for decades. This is a relatively rare side effect, but it does happen. There has been concern in the past few years that kids are at an increased risk. The best evidence is that there is an increased risk of this side effect with kids, but antidepressants can be used with kids with good monitoring.