What are antidepressants?
Antidepressants are psychiatric medications used to relieve mood disorders, such as depression, dysthymia and anxiety disorders.
Do antidepressants work?
Do antidepressants work?
Yes and no.
An article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that antidepressants are no more effective than placebos. In the other hand, there are many psychiatrists who protect the clinical efficacy of antidepressants. For an example, psychiatrist Peter Kramer wrote in his best-selling book Listening to Prozac that this miracle drug made patients "better than well." Data from clinical trials has shown that people treated with placebos improve about 75% as much as patients treated with antidepressants. Therefore, there is proof of efficacy.
How do they work?
There are many different classes of antidepressants. Each of them work on your brain chemistry in a different way. Each increases certain neurotransmitters in the brain and may do this in different parts of the brain.
Different types of antidepressants include:
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
- Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)
- monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)
- tricyclic antidepressants
- miscellaneous antidepressants and others.
Are there any side effects of taking antidepressants?
Yes! Different classes have different side-effects. It is very important to let your doctor know or to be reminded of medical conditions you have had in the past or have at the moment.
Are antidepressants addictive?
One-third of people who stop taking SSRIs and SNRIs have withdrawal symptoms. They can last from 2 weeks to 2 months.
3 comments:
The part about the addiction some antidepressive may lead to , makes me wonder if in the future they will be considered as harmful as narcotics considered now.
Comparing the effectiveness to placebos(such as sugar pills), couldn't be anymore spot on. I have researched this same topic and have found that many of the name brand anti depressants have done studies on how effective their drugs really are. But...come to find out these companies NEVER reported the results of these findings. Does that rub anyone else the wrong way? What are they trying to hide? I think we all know the answer to that one.
Of course we can't suggest all anti-depresants are no better than a sugar pill, I think it's safe to say that the general public is being kept from the truth... It makes you wonder what OTHER prescription med's are leaving out important results from studies.
Ben
Iowa Web Design
Many people have filed Zoloft lawsuits due to problems while taking the medication. Teens have been reported to be at risk of having increased suicidal thoughts due to taking antidepressants. Parents worried of their children's health have started to find other means of restoring their child's mental health.
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