Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a tragic and unexpected event that happens when the heart suddenly stops beating. It often occurs without warning, sometimes within just an hour of the first symptoms. In younger people under 40, it is usually caused by problems with the heart’s structure or electrical system. In older people, it is often linked to blocked blood vessels in the heart.
Researchers have long known that people with mental health conditions are at a higher risk of early death, including death from heart problems. They are also twice as likely to experience sudden cardiac death. However, until now, scientists didn’t fully understand how the use of antidepressant medications might affect this risk.
New research presented at EHRA 2025—a major heart research meeting held by the European Society of Cardiology—sheds more light on this important issue. The study, conducted in Denmark, found that people who had taken antidepressants for a long time were more likely to suffer sudden cardiac death than those who had never taken the medications.
The researchers looked at the medical records and death certificates of all Danish residents aged 18 to 90 who died in the year 2010. They used this information to determine how many people died from sudden cardiac death and whether they had a history of antidepressant use.
Antidepressant exposure was defined as filling at least two prescriptions in a single year, at any time during the 12 years before 2010. Based on this, the researchers split people into two groups—those who had been on antidepressants for one to five years, and those who had used them for six years or more.
Out of the 4.3 million residents studied, nearly 46,000 people died in 2010, and over 6,000 of those deaths were from sudden cardiac death. Among those, about 2,000 had a history of antidepressant use.
The study found that people who had used antidepressants for one to five years had a 56% higher risk of dying suddenly from heart issues compared to people who had never taken the drugs. Those who had used them for six years or more had more than double the risk.
The increased risk was especially high in middle-aged groups. For example, people aged 30 to 39 who had taken antidepressants for one to five years were three times more likely to die from sudden cardiac death than those who had never used them.
For those who had used them for six or more years, the risk was five times higher. In people aged 50 to 59, the risk doubled with shorter-term use and quadrupled with long-term use.
However, the differences in risk between short- and long-term use became smaller in older age groups. For those aged 70 to 79, the risk was still higher than average, but the difference between five years and six or more years of use was not as large. In people under 30 and over 80, the study did not find any statistically significant difference between short- and long-term antidepressant use.
According to Dr. Jasmin Mujkanovic, one of the researchers from Copenhagen’s Rigshospitalet, the length of time a person is on antidepressants matters. “Those exposed for six years or more were at even more increased risk than those exposed for one to five years, when compared with people unexposed to antidepressants in the general population,” she said.
Why does this happen? The researchers don’t yet have a clear answer. Antidepressants may have side effects that affect the heart, especially if used for a long time.
But it’s also possible that the longer someone uses antidepressants, the more serious their underlying mental health condition may be. Depression and related disorders can also lead to lifestyle problems—such as poor diet, lack of exercise, or not going to the doctor—which can harm heart health over time.
This study provides important insights into the relationship between antidepressant use and sudden cardiac death. The key finding is that long-term use of antidepressants is linked to a higher risk of sudden death from heart problems, especially in people aged 30 to 59. The risk grows with the number of years a person takes these medications.
However, it’s also important to interpret these findings carefully. The study does not prove that antidepressants cause sudden cardiac death. Instead, they highlight a link between the two. People taking antidepressants may already have other risk factors—such as poor heart health, stress, or unhealthy behaviors—that contribute to the higher risk.
What this means for patients is that doctors and healthcare providers should continue to monitor heart health in people taking antidepressants, especially those who have been on them for many years. It also suggests the need for more research to understand the exact causes of this increased risk—and whether different types of antidepressants carry different levels of risk.
In the meantime, people should not stop taking their medications without talking to a doctor. Antidepressants can be life-saving for those struggling with mental illness, and any changes to treatment should be made with care and professional guidance.
If you care about heart health, please read studies that vitamin K helps cut heart disease risk by a third, and a year of exercise reversed worrisome heart failure.
For more health information, please see recent studies about supplements that could help prevent heart disease, stroke, and results showing this food ingredient may strongly increase heart disease death risk.
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