American Journal of Psychiatry

The American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP) is the most widely read psychiatric journal in the world. It covers topics on biological psychiatry, treatment innovations, forensic, ethical, economic, and social issues. Official American Psychiatric Association reports appear from time to time. The AJP is published monthly, using a peer-reviewed process. In addition to articles, it publishes letters to the editor and book reviews.

Its original title was the American Journal of Insanity, changed to the current form in the July issue of 1921.

Suicide Rate
On September 6, 2007, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported suicide rate in American adolescents (especially girls, 10 to 24 years old) increased 8% (2003 to 2004), the largest jump in 15 years. Specifically, in 2004 - 4,599 suicides in Americans ages 10 to 24, up from 4,232 in 2003, for a rate of 7.32 per 100,000 people that age. Before, the rate dropped to 6.78 per 100,000 in 2003 from 9.48 per 100,000 in 1990. The findings also reported that antidepressant drugs reduced suicide risk than increase it. Psychiatrists found that the increase is due to the decline in prescriptions of antidepressant drugs like Prozac to young people since 2003, leaving more cases of serious depression untreated. In a December 2006 study, The American Journal of Psychiatry said that a decrease in antidepressant prescriptions to minors of just a few percentage points coincided with a 14 percent increase in suicides in the United States; in the Netherlands, the suicide rate was 50% up, upon prescription drop.