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Seena Fazel of Oxford University Department of Psychiatry led a team of researchers in a unique study which aimed to avoid confounding factors by comparing the same individuals' behaviour while they were on and while they were off medication.

Young people taking antidepressants such as Prozac and Seroxat are significantly more likely to commit violent crimes when they are on the medication, but taking higher doses of the drugs appears to reduce that risk, scientists said on Tuesday.

In research published in the PLoS Medicine journal, the scientists said that while their finding of a link does not prove that such drugs cause people to be more violent, further studies should be conducted and extra warnings may be needed in future when they are prescribed to people aged 15 to 24.

 

Read more from Reuters News 

Read the edited research paper published in PLOS magazine

The Times: Depression drugs linked to violence

Daily Mail: Young people on antidepressant pills 'are more likely to be violent'

The Daily Telegraph: Violent crime 'more common' in young antidepressant users

Los Angeles Times: Rx for violence? Crime risk rises for young people on antidepressants, study says