A new study finds that children in the United States are about three times more likely to be prescribed anti-depressant and stimulant medication than their West European counterparts.

Antidepressant and stimulant prevalence were three or more times greater in the U.S. than in the Netherlands and Germany, while antipsychotic prevalence was 1.5 to 2.2 times greatera, said lead researcher Julie Zito, associate professor in pharmacy and psychiatry from the School of Pharmacy at the University of Maryland at Baltimore. The study is published in the journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health

People who are depressed and taking prescription antidepressants are poor drivers, new study suggests. A team of researchers from the University of North Dakota put 60 people through a driving simulation to test steering, concentration and reactions.

Thirty-one of the participants were taking at least one type of antidepressant while 29 control group members were taking no medication with the exception of oral contraceptives in some cases

Steven Kazmierczak's Northern Illinois University shooting sparked another hard look at the linkage between stopping use of antidepressant drugs like Prozac and a rise in violent tendencies. The conclusion of medics is that the halt in the gunman's Prozac therapy had no direct link to his shooting spree.

But while the connection was not established, medical experts said the NIU incident stressed stopping antidepressant therapy without directions from doctors is risky

Two recent studies have revealed that women who take antidepressants early in their pregnancy have little or no risk of giving birth to babies born with birth defects. Researchers in these latest rounds of studies focused on the class of drugs chosen most often for depression and anxiety, including the brands Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft.

Contrary to the new findings, Paxil carries a warning of possible heart defects in newborns, and experts don't expect the new findings to alter any of these warnings

Contrary to the popular belief, authors of a new study now suggest that antidepressant drugs do more good than harm to children and teenagers. There have been many instances when parents blamed antidepressants for the suicides of their depressed children and many studies showed that drugs might promote suicidal thoughts.

It prompted the Food and Drug Administration to send out a warning to doctors and also in 2004, the FDA called for "black box" warning labels on antidepressants. However, many experts believe that after the warning to curb the use of antidepressants, there was a sudden surge in U.S. youth suicides that was blamed on reluctance to try antidepressants