Common Antidepressants May not Raise the Risk of Stroke by Angela Mohan on March 1, 2021 at 12:20 PM SSRIS may not raise the risk of intracerebral hemorrhage among patients with depression, as per the study that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 73rd Annual Meeting being held virtually April 17 to 22, 2021. An intracerebral hemorrhage is when a blood vessel bursts in the brain sending blood into the surrounding tissue. The most common causes are high blood pressure and head trauma, but some studies have also suggested that SSRIs may increase a person's risk of this type of bleeding stroke. "Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors work by preventing reabsorption of the chemical serotonin, which regulates mood, into the cells, making more of it available in the brain," said study author Mithilesh Siddu, M.D., of the University of Miami in Florida and member of the American Academy of Neurology.