We all are aware of the recent suicide cases of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade. The reason for their suicides was clear. It was depression that took their lives. Research worked out on the causes of depression focuses on the role of medications for the increasing levels of depression. The study marks its presence in JAMA. The study infers that nearly two hundred common medications have depression as their side-effects.

The study claims that above one-third of the American adult population is on the medication regime which has depression as one of their significant side-effects. Researchers have identified about two hundred and three drugs that are not obscure. The list of those drugs is inclusive of birth control pills, pills used for controlling high blood pressure (beta blockers), and acid reflux pills such as the proton pump inhibitors.

This current research involved researchers from the University of Illinois and Columbia University. Study infers that the people who were on such prescribed drugs display an elevated risk of suffering from depression.

Professor Michael Thase says, “It’s remarkable to know just how common it is that people might be at higher risk because of medicines they take. “Thinking about these [potential side effects] should be [doctors’] second or third step before they prescribe antidepressants. Sometimes de-prescribing [other drugs] is what’s needed.” Michael Thase is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Depression in the United States is known to affect more than one in twenty adults per annum. In addition to this ratio, the suicidal rates have been climbing steadily in the United States.

Mark Olfson concludes, “One can say you’d expect that finding because people who have more medical problems are more likely to take more medications and are more likely to be depressed.” Mark Olfson is a co-author of the study and a professor of epidemiology and psychiatry at the Columbia University Medical Center.