What are anti-depressant medications?
Anti-depressants (or antidepressants) are medication which are prescribed to people who have the following mental health conditions:
Anti-depressants are prescribed as a way of reducing the symptoms of the depression and anxiety disorders. Sometimes they are used alone, but often they are used with some sort of counselling or cognitive therapy, to help the individual deal with the disorder more effectively.
Different types of antidepressant medications
Anti-psychotics
These medications are used to treat schizophrenia and schizophrenia-related disorders and the associated depression.
Anti-psychotics reduce hallucinations and unreality symptoms.
Anti-psychotic medications initially developed in the 1950’s are called “typical anti-psychotics” and those new drugs developed in the 1990’s are called “atypical anti-psychotics”. Typical anti-psychotics strongly block dopamine. Atypical anti-psychotics strongly block serotonin.
There are a number of serious side effects associated with these medications.
- lowered white blood cells, which can put the person at a greater risk of infection and illness
- greater risk for developing diabetes
- weight gain
- sleepiness
- dry mouth
- uncontrolled body movements
People on these medications must have regular blood tests to measure levels of white blood cells and blood glucose and insulin levels.
Examples of Typical anti-psychotics:
- Chlorpromazine (Thorazine)
- Fluphenazine, Haloperidol (Haldol)
- Perphenazine
Examples of Atypical anti-psychotics:
- Aripiprazole (Abilify)
- Lurasidone (Latuda)
- Quetiapine (Seroquel
Benzodiazepines
These medications are sedatives which also provide a muscle relaxant effect and are commonly prescribed in people with depression that also have insomnia for short term use.
High dosage, combined with long term use can result in an addiction. Even short term use in some people can result in rebound wakefulness (more insomnia than you started with) which can exacerbate depression.
Discuss any side effects with your doctor and do not suddenly stop taking any medication you have been taking for some time.
Examples of benzodiazepines:
- Alprazolam (Xanax®)
- Chlordiazepoxide (Librium®)
- Diazepam (Valium®)
- Estazolam (Prosom®)
- Lorazepam (Ativan®)
- Nitrazepam (Mogadon®)
- Oxazepam (Serax®)
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI)
These medications are the oldest class of medications used for depression and they should not be taken in combination with any type of SSRI drugs or St John’s Wort as the combination can produce serious (and fatal) side effects.
MAOIs can produce serious side effects and their use must be strictly monitored to prevent this from occurring. MAOI are the least often prescribed anti-depressants as they have such a large range of side effects and a restrictive diet needs to be followed when taking them.
People are often prescribed MAOIs when other types of anti-depressants have not worked to reduce symptoms.
Examples of MAOIs:
- Phenelzine (Nardil®)
- Tranylcypromine (Parnate®)
- Isocarboxazid (Marplan®)
Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
These drugs are a newer class of anti-depressant medications which alter the levels of serotonin in the brain. They increase the levels of serotonin to control mood and to reduce low mood symptoms associated with depression.
SSRIs were a recent development and have only been available from around 40 years ago.
These drugs can also produce side effects similar to the reason why you’re taking them:
These side effects are usually milder in comparison to older types of antidepressants (MAOI). The side effects normally decrease after some time, for most people but not in everyone.
Examples of SSRIs:
- Citalopram (Cipramil®)
- Fluvoxamine (Faverin®)
- Paroxetine (Seroxat®)
- Fluoxetine (Prozac®)
- Sertraline (Lustral®)
Tricyclics
These drugs are an older type of anti-depressant medication which work as well as SSRIs for reducing symptoms of depression. Tricyclics help to increase levels of serotonin and norepinephrine which help to stabilise the mood. These drugs have some side effects which can usually be reduced by lowering the dose or by changing to another type of tricyclic medication, but even despite this, a great number of people abandon this medication due to the side effects that they produce.
Examples of tricyclics:
- Amitriptyline (Triptafen®)
- Clomipramine (Anafranil®)
- Dosulepin/Dothiepin (Prothiaden®)
- Doxepin (Sinequan®)
- Imipramine (Tofranil®)
- Nortriptyline (Motival®)
Important anti-depressant medications facts
- Anti-depressants can be a successful therapy for many people with mental health disorders
- Anti-depressants work on balancing the chemicals in the brain (neurotransmitters) to reduce symptoms
- Anti-depressants can take up to four weeks to start working
- Quite a lot of people have side effects to the anti-depressant medications and may need adjustment of the dosage, switching to another type of brand or maybe trying a different therapy approach – only a medical professional can help make this decision for you with your acceptanace
- Recent research suggests that anti-depressants are ineffective in the treatment of most cases of mild to moderate and even severe depression and that they should only be prescribed in really severe cases
- Recent research suggests that some teenagers and older adults can be at risk of suicide from using anti-depressants and caution is adviesd in prescribing anti-depressants in these people (in fact, now anti-depressants, by law must have a label to denote this risk)
- One recent study (2010) showed that two commonly prescribed anti-depressants, paroxetine (an SSRI) and imipramine (a tricyclic), were only slightly more beneficial than placebos in treating patients with mild and moderate depression
- In February 2004, an FDA official testified before the FDA’s Psychopharmacological Advisory Committee on the Office of Drug Safety Data Resources for the Study of Suicidal Events, to warn that children being prescribed the newer antidepressants were at a higher risk of suicide
Anti-depressant medications reduce the symptoms of the mental health disorders (depression, anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder), such as:
- Feeling excessively guilty
- Loss of concentration and thinking
- Loss of interest in life
- Sadness (for no apparent reason)
- Sleeping too much or too little
- Worrying too much
Anti-depressants are also used for treating PMDD – a very severe form of PMS which affects a small percentage of women.
Recent research about anti-depressants is refuting the claim that they are needed for treating most types of depression. The research suggests that they are almost useless for treating most types of mild to moderate depression and there are a number of other ways to treat depression which does not involve the use of anti-depressants, which have more positive outcomes.
Last reviewed and updated: 8 July 2024
