
A new Swedish study has found that people who take common psychiatric medications—such as antidepressants, anxiety drugs, and sleeping pills—may have a higher chance of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a deadly nervous system disease. These medications are also linked to worse outcomes after diagnosis, including faster physical decline and shorter survival.
ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, causes damage to nerve cells that control movement. People with ALS gradually lose the ability to walk, speak, eat, and eventually breathe. While it is mainly known as a disease of the motor system, many people experience symptoms of anxiety or depression before they are officially diagnosed.
Past research has shown that psychiatric disorders may appear before ALS develops, but few studies have looked closely at the role of psychiatric drugs themselves.
This new research was led by scientists at Karolinska Institutet and published in JAMA Network Open. The team used health records from across Sweden to study over 1,000 people who were diagnosed with ALS between 2015 and 2023.
They compared these individuals with more than 5,000 people of the same age and sex who did not have ALS. They also included spouses and siblings to look at possible family or environmental factors.
The researchers looked at whether people had been prescribed certain psychiatric medications before being diagnosed with ALS. They found that people who had taken anxiety medications (anxiolytics) were 34% more likely to later be diagnosed with ALS. Those who had used sleeping pills or sedatives had a 21% higher risk, while people who had used antidepressants had a 26% higher risk.
But the findings didn’t stop there. Among those already diagnosed with ALS, taking these medications before diagnosis was linked to faster disease progression. People who had taken anxiety drugs had a 52% higher chance of dying sooner or needing a ventilator.
For antidepressants, the risk jumped even more—by 72%. Use of sleeping pills or sedatives was also linked to worse outcomes, though the link was not as strong or certain.
In addition, patients who had taken antidepressants before their diagnosis lost physical function more quickly. This was measured using a standard tool called the ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R), which tracks abilities like walking, speaking, and breathing.
The researchers believe there may be two possible explanations. One is that psychiatric symptoms like depression or anxiety could be early warning signs of ALS, showing up before the physical symptoms start.
Another possibility is that the medications—or the brain changes they treat—somehow play a role in the disease itself. The study mentioned possible biological links, such as stress-related hormone changes, brain inflammation, or changes in brain support cells (called glial cells), but more research is needed.
It’s important to note that the study does not prove that psychiatric medications cause ALS. It only shows a connection. There may be other factors involved, such as the underlying mental health conditions themselves, or shared genetic risks.
In summary, this large and carefully designed study suggests that people who use antidepressants, anxiety medications, or sleeping pills may be at higher risk of ALS and may experience worse outcomes if they develop the disease.
These findings offer new clues into how ALS develops and might eventually help researchers detect or treat the disease earlier. But more work is needed to fully understand the connection between psychiatric symptoms, the medications used to treat them, and this devastating condition.
If you care about depression, please read studies about how dairy foods may influence depression risk, and B vitamins could help prevent depression and anxiety.
For more information about mental health, please see recent studies that ultra-processed foods may make you feel depressed, and extra-virgin olive oil could reduce depression symptoms.
The research findings can be found in JAMA Network Open.
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