Research on neurochemicals associated with moods in mice and rats finds that, while less depression-like behavior was observed in those receiving fluoxetine (Prozac) administration in adolescence (compared to those receiving a placebo), sensitivity to anxiety was more pronounced in adulthood. The study, appearing in the Journal of Neuroscience, shows “the complexity of drug and intracellular manipulations in the immature brain,” according to the authors.
Iñiguez, S., Alcantara, L., Warren, B., Riggs, L.; Fluoxetine Exposure during Adolescence Alters Responses to Aversive Stimuli in Adulthood. Journal of Neuroscience. Online January 15, 2014. 34(3): 1007-1021; doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5725-12.2014
Of further interest:
Prozac during adolescence protects against despair in adulthood (LA Times)
I’m quite sure sensitivity is increased in a large percentage of people regardless of age of start…hence the difficulty in getting off and the hypersensitivity (to all sorts of things) we often see in those with protracted withdrawal issues.
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When my son was hospitalized one of the first questions we were asked was, “Has he been on anti-depressants?” He was only on them for three months but he became completely psychotic within the next year and has never been the same since.
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