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There are many ways of treating depression, one of which is administering antidepressants. From this site, and several others, I read that risk of suicide increases after starting an antidepressant.

A few people do become more agitated, depressed, and anxious shortly after an antidepressant is started or after the dose is increased. Some people, especially younger children and adolescents, become increasingly suicidal if these symptoms are not detected and rapidly treated. This finding was first reported with SSRIs, but the risk probably does not differ among classes of antidepressants.

My question is, simply, why is that? These antidepressants work long-term, but cause strong suicidal thoughts when taken initially. Does it have something to do with hormones?

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This comes from talking to a psychiatrist about the issue:

One of the effects of depression is a loss of motivation. In some suicidal individuals, this has the result that they want to die, but can't work up the motivation to do anything about it. Once they start taking antidepressants, however, the lack of motivation goes away before the depression does, creating a short period of increased suicide risk.

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  • $\begingroup$ "This comes from talking to a psychiatrist about the issue" - What comes from talking to a psychiatrist? Suicidal ideation? If that is your claim then that is very bold and requires further elaboration and references. Your claims regarding motivation for suicide and antidepressants also needs references to back them up. Even though the OP accepted this answer, it is nowhere near adequate and as far as I am concerned this answer is opinion rather than fact. $\endgroup$
    – Chris Rogers
    May 30, 2020 at 8:45
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    $\begingroup$ @ChrisRogers I think he is referring to the source of the information. $\endgroup$
    – Arnon Weinberg ♦
    May 30, 2020 at 15:07

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