---
title: "Psych News Alert: Antidepressants Trip Up Nursing Home Residents"
description: Many nursing home residents with dementia suffer from depression and so are prescribed antidepressants, frequently selective serotonin reupt...
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/OldOrthopedic_50068234-Jun-24-2025-03-28-21-0570-PM.jpg
---

 6/24/24 11:16 AM

# Antidepressants Trip Up Nursing Home Residents

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert)

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Many nursing home residents with dementia suffer from depression and so are prescribed antidepressants, frequently selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Now a new study from the Netherlands finds that use of SSRIs among a group of 248 nursing home residents (average age 82) was associated with an increased risk of falls compared with those not taking these drugs.

“Even at low dosages, psychotropic drugs are associated with increased fall risk,” wrote Carolyn Shanty Sterke, M.D., of the Section of Geriatric Medicine at Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, and colleagues, in the *British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology* (online January 19).

In the two-year study, the absolute daily risk of an injury-producing fall tripled from 0.09 percent per day to 0.28 percent among SSRI users.  “Physicians should be cautious in prescribing SSRIs to older people with dementia, even at low doses,” said Sterke.

For more about psychotropic medications and people with dementia in  *Psychiatric News**,* click [here](http://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/newsarticle.aspx?articleid=108443).

(Image: Lisa S./Shutterstock.com)

[psychiatry](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/psychiatry), [SSRIs](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ssris), [depression in elderly](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/depression-in-elderly), [dementia](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/dementia)

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[SSRIs](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ssris), [trazodone](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/trazodone), [antidepressant](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/antidepressant), [dementia](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/dementia), [paroxetine](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/paroxetine), [anticholinergic](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/anticholinergic), [dementia risk](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/dementia-risk)

## [Long-Term Use of Antidepressants Doesn’t Increase Dementia Risk, Study Finds](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/09/long-term-use-of-antidepressants-doesnt.html)

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 9/24/18 12:00 AM

While the long-term use of most antidepressants does not appear to increase the risk of dementia,...

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[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/elderlyhands_110911754-Jun-24-2025-03-31-16-9538-PM.jpg?height=200&name=elderlyhands_110911754-Jun-24-2025-03-31-16-9538-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2016/11/dementia-prevalence-in-united-states.html)

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## [Dementia Prevalence in United States Falls From 2000 to 2012, Report Finds](https://alert.psychnews.org/2016/11/dementia-prevalence-in-united-states.html)

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 6/24/24 11:16 AM

Between 2000 and 2012, the proportion of U.S. adults 65 and older with dementia decreased...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2016/11/dementia-prevalence-in-united-states.html)

[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/shutterstock_207371302-Jun-24-2025-06-22-31-3136-PM.jpg?height=200&name=shutterstock_207371302-Jun-24-2025-06-22-31-3136-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/01/some-symptoms-of-mild-dementia-may.html)

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## [Some Symptoms of Mild Dementia May Predict Progression to Severe Dementia, Early Death](https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/01/some-symptoms-of-mild-dementia-may.html)

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