Antidepressants Could Make Your Brain Bleed, Cause Hemorrhagic Strokes

Thickened arteries, heart disease, depression, suicide, and now, we can add bleeding of the brain to the long list of side effects of antidepressants. Though the risk is admittedly very small, researchers declared on Wednesday that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may raise the risk of hemorrhagic strokes, which happen when the brain bleeds. SSRIs include a wide variety of common antidepressents, including Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, and Paxil. These drugs are also linked to an increased risk of stomach bleeding.

Platelets Can’t Clot, Hemorrhage

After analyzing 16 previous studies involving over 500,000 patients, researchers determined that SSRI users were 40 to 50 percent more likely to suffer bleeding of or around the brain. The researchers were not, however, able to collect other relevant data, like subjects’ smoking and drinking habits, diet, and whether they had diabetes. Their findings were published in the journal Neurology.