Bipolar patients than Carrie Fisher should not take Prozac

Carrie Fisher, a popular actress as Princess Leia, was dead in her 60 years old. She was suffering from a heart attack when she was on a plane from London to Los Angeles. She was carried to the hospital soon after arriving in Los Angeles, but clinicians could not save her, unfortunately.

Fisher was known to have had bipolar disorder. She did not conceal it. The fact she expressed she was mentally ill might encourage people with mental disorders.

However, she seemed to have taken Prozac, an antidepressant drug whose component is fluoxetine. The bereaved family of her threw Prozac into her urn.

Independent: Carrie Fisher's funeral urn was a giant model of a Prozac pill

It may be true that Fisher loved Prozac in her life. But, I have to mention that antidepressant drugs including Prozac are potentially harmful to patients with bipolar disorder. There is reliable evidence that taking antidepressant makes bipolar disorder complicated or treatment-resistant, though some studies are against this hypothesis. In my experience, a few patients with bipolar disorder get recovered after taking antidepressants. At the same time, more patients can be saved with quitting antidepressants with replacing them to mood stabilizers.

I do not know the course of Fisher. I am afraid some patients with bipolar disorder will take Prozac to deteriorate their mental status. While Prozac is a good choice for depressive patients, inappropriate usage of is may be fatal.