Don't!

This is personal..I have no idea how things work for you, or what the truth is.
What follows is my own view.

A couple of years ago I was at an inquest for a young man who had committed suicide.
When his mother asked if the doctor (present)  thought that SSIs had contributed to her son's death, I like the doctor and the magistrate thought that it was unreasonable to blame the SSI. After all, the anti-depressant was just one more drug in his system, and he had clearly been in a psychotic state nine hours before his death.

Sam had been drinking, smoking weed and taking 'legal highs' it had been his birthday
so....it wasn't surprising he became disturbed.

A part of me thought his mom was trying not too blame herself, and Prozac was an easy target.

I wondered why his mom had not phoned anyone for help when she realised how bizarre and paranoid her son's thinking had become..Surely she must now be agonizing over why she didn't pick up the phone while he was still safe in her home?

Sam's medical history was brought as evidence.
He had been proscribed SSIs for depression...
A few months later he was out on the rail track and out of his mind.
Then he was taken into psychiatric care for three days

Six months later, after going out to celebrate his twentieth birthday...
He slipped out of the house before anyone was awake
And died later than morning, on the track.

Back home I began to research the story some more.
I realized that smoking weed and taking an SSI could result in a Serotonin Syndrome.

I was surprised that the doctor hadn't considered the young man's age, and done a blood test before proscribing the SSI..A doctor assumes her patient wants to get better and will use the treatment 'properly' and it struck me that not checking a patient's relationship with drugs and then proscribing something that interacts with them in a lethal way (if he was in a Serotonin Syndrome...) is pretty much negligence

And also..when I was at the inquest I didn't understand why Sam's mom hadn't phoned the crisis team. But in the light of my own experiences, I now know exactly why she didn't phone.

I didn't phone.

I don't honestly know what would make me phone!

During the worst of the Risperidone, my husband told me to call the crisis team (it was that bad) and I wouldn't, because I'd given my word to Josh that I would stay with him, immobilize him if necessary for both our safety, but I would not phone the hospital ever...

So yes, I know why his mom didn't call for help.
The experience of being taken into a psychiatric hospital can be that bad...

The next part of  Sam's story echo's my son's suicide attempt.
At the inquest we were told how Sam had been out drinking, partying (it was his birthday).

Taking other drugs...Possibly not taking his SSI?

Sam wasn't depressed - his suicide came out of the blue (he had been happy, talking about going out with his dad) and then suddenly a psychosis set in.

Now after all I've seen, I realize how similar Sam's story is to that of my own son.

For Sam it started when he had gone to the doctor with depression because his life had collapsed, all his dreams had been shattered.. he was given SSIs. When he was in stress (an argument with his girlfriend) he went out onto the rail track. When he told his mom, she phoned for help and Sam was taken into a psychiatric hospital for an assessment.

Six month's later he was given more SSIs, and a month later he returned to the track.

It could be said that the SSIs may have helped his depression, but as soon as he encountered severe 'stress' he engaged in risky behavior...

The first time Sam wasn't trying to kill himself - his mom said that he seemed elated and not making sense, talking about climbing up and walking on roof tops, and crawling through water pipes...and then running along the railway line.

His behavior was closer to Russian Roulette.
All this is circumstantial, no way to prove anything...

Eye witness accounts:
The night before Sam died he was filled with paranoia, fear and anger...
Someone who saw him half an hour before his death described him as quiet, disengaged.

This pattern of rage then dissociation is exactly the same pattern as my son before he left the house...

That's not proof.

But it is interesting in a way that makes me so sad, so sorry and so frustrated really... because proscribing SSIs to people who don't have stable lives, do take drugs, who don't feel grateful for the doctor for proscribing them, and will start and stop taking them, mixing them with alcohol and other drugs...is a grave error!

Add to that the stigma of being sectioned.
Add the attitude of mental health professionals who mean well but are disempowering...
Add to that the effects of the SSI itself...

A treatment that is worse than the disease.

And if it is known that SSIs increase death rates by 33% link... 
What is going on?