Depressive disorders are common in young individuals, and they are commonly neglected or undertreated. The use of antidepressants to treat depression in children and adolescents is debatable. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) were widely used in paediatric depression until cautions were published concerning their usage due to concerns that children and adolescents who had participated in trials testing the effectiveness of SSRIs were at an increased risk of self-harm. As a result, government regulatory organizations conducted detailed assessments of the studies and decided that only fluoxetine should be approved for use in children and adolescents with depressive disorders.
