Rob Waters

About the author: Rob Waters is a freelance journalist whose articles have appeared in Health, Parenting, and theLos Angeles Times. He is the coauthor of From Boys to Men: A Woman's Guide to the Health of Husbands, Partners, Sons, Fathers, and Brothers.

Antidepressants including Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, and Effexor have provoked hostile behavior and thoughts about suicide in a number of children and teenagers who have been prescribed the drugs. Some of these patients have killed themselves. Although pediatricians and child psychiatrists have been prescribing antidepressants for years, parents have usually been given no warning of the dangerous possible side effects the drugs can have on their children. However, in 2003 wide media coverage of the possible risks of Paxil for young patients contributed...