The Link Between Car Crashes and Antidepressants

Boston, MAThe next time somebody T-bones you at an intersection causing an automobile crash, have your lawyer check to see if the other driver was taking antidepressants. There's a good chance that may be the case, according to a recent study that raises concern with regard to the relationship between antidepressant use, and driving skills.

The study, released this month at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, analyzed the responses of 60 participants taking a driving test in a simulator. Just over half—31 participants—were taking at least one type of commonly-prescribed antidepressant, while the remaining 29 participants constituted the control group and were not taking medication of any kind, with the possible exception of birth control pills.

The group taking antidepressants was further subdivided into those who scored higher, and lower on a test for depression.

University of North Dakota psychologists Holly Dannewitz. PhD, and Tom Petros, PhD, required their charges to make a series of common driving decisions, among them: reacting to brake lights, stop signs or traffic signals while being distracted by speed limit signs, pylons, animals, other cars, helicopters or cyclists. The simulation tested steering, concentration and scanning.

The results appear to suggest that a person's level of depression, and not the anti-depressant itself, played a greater role in an individual's performance behind the wheel. The study showed that participants taking common antidepressants such as Prozac, Paxil or Zoloft but scoring at the 'normal' range on a test to measure depression, performed no better or worse than the non-medicated control group.

However, those participants taking such aforementioned antidepressants who presented with a high number of symptoms for depression performed significantly worse then the control group, the study showed. Thus, the risk for car accidents is enhanced.
"Individuals taking antidepressants should be aware of the possible cognitive effects as [they] may affect performance in social, academic and work settings, as well as driving abilities," the researchers wrote. "However, it appears that mood is correlated with cognitive performance, more so than medication use."

In other words, the antidepressants themselves should not be thought of as the culprit, but rather the depth and intensity of the depression an individual is exhibiting.

What makes this research with regard to the potential for car accidents so significant is the dramatic rise in antidepressant use in a decade, according to a 2004 Health United States report issued by the National Center for Health Statistics. While it is widely held those antidepressants are more commonly prescribed for non-depressive uses, the dramatic rise suggests nonetheless that there is a growing incidence of depression out there, in varying degrees.

Why this is, is a debate for the gods. Perhaps it's symptomatic of a large sector of the Baby Boomers achieving mid-life, and suffering from the accompanying mid-life crises. However, what is known is that one in ten women takes an antidepressant.

Which suggests that degree of depression should potentially dictate whether or not an individual has the legal right to drive, as the kind of sustained cognitive mood that comes with severe depression can be no less an impairment as driving while under the influence, or falling asleep at the wheel.

The study, presented in Boston on August 17th, appears to suggest that simply taking an antidepressant for whatever reason is not a prerequisite to bad driving. However, their use should serve as an indicator for the potential presence of depression. The actual measurement of said depression, may dictate the potential for impaired performance behind the wheel.

So, next time someone plows into you, causing an auto accident through no fault of your own, there is a distinct possibility the other driver suffers from severe depression.

That revelation could play a part in any litigation concerning your case.