Suicide by antidepressants? A clarification

In my previous post, I was talking about the role of SSRI's in stimulating manic episodes. I made an error where I commented,

It's possible, then, that SSRI's may cause a manic or hypomanic episode in bipolar clients who have been misdiagnosed with recurrent depression.

While that is true, I neglected to get where I was going. Some people do not have pure manic or hypomanic episodes. Instead, they have mixed episodes, where symptoms of mania mix with symptoms of depression. A person who is depressed, suicidal, agitated, and impulsive can be very high risk of suicide.

So, I was addressing concerns about SSRI's causing manias. I should have been addressing concerns about SSRI's precipitating a mixed episode.

By the way, one of the best books I've read about bipolar disorder is An Unquiet Mind, by Kay Redfield Jamison.