Depression Drugs: Benefits, Side Effects and Precaution

Depression is a chronic problem that is rising by leaps and bounds today. Many young people, who are the light of the nation, fall in the clutches of dark depression. The results are so threatening that there are also suicidal attempts in a few cases. There is a lot of tension around. People live a life that is highly stressful. Due to this there is no time for people. The business and stress takes away a little spare time that a person wants to take out for him. But he is not successful. And the result is frustration and which further leads to depression.

Depression is also related to diabetes and heart problems. People are affected to a great extent by this harmful emotional and psychological disorder. People who are depressed accept these feelings as the real one. They lose confidence in themselves and their productivity at work drops. They also do not want to go out of house. They lose interest in their daily activities. There is complete lack of appetite. These are a few symptoms to catch depression. This is because the person never asks for help. You have to be sharp enough to find out that the person is suffering from depression. There are various reasons for depression. For some it may be hormonal imbalance. For some it may be because of some sad incident. For some people depression may be because of the social background. For some it may be due to genes. A number of different physiological and social/environmental factors collectively cause depression and so it is hard to come up with a single drug that can cure all depression cases. Still, some depression drugs have been found effective in treating a large number of similar cases of depression.

Have you heard of antidepressants? Drugs used for depression are collectively called antidepressants. Appearing in the late 1950s, these drugs are now of three main types: tricyclic drugs, elective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and Monoamine oxidase inhibitors.

Tricyclic drugs are commonly available as Amitriptyline and Imipramine. They are used for treating depression and other disorders like panic, obsessive-compulsive, post-traumatic stress, and chronic pain.

Serotonin reuptake inhibitors drugs appeared in the 1980s and are the most commonly prescribed drugs toady for treating depression. Besides depression, they are used in the treatment of panic, obsessive-compulsive, bulimia, and social phobia. Commonly sold brand names for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors include Prozac, Paxil, Prozac, Luvox, Zoloft, and Celexa. All these reuptake inhibitors alleviate the symptoms of depression by inhibiting the reuptake of certain neurotransmitters, especially of serotonin and norepinephrine. Bupropion (sold as Wellbutrin) is another one of the SSRIs. It acts by blocking the reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors generally have fewer side effects than other types of antidepressants and hence are more popular prescription for depression.

MAOIs can be prescribed for any type of depression, especially for those cases when certain symptoms like anxiety, overeating, and excessive need of sleeping are present with the depression. Three types of Monoamine oxidase inhibitors are prescribed for depression:

Phenelzine, sold as Nardil,

Isocarboxazid and Tranylcypromine sold as Parnate, and

Moclobemide.

You must not forget that as there are a number of reasons for depression. Not all depression is because of chemical changes in mind and body. And thus so far, studies reveal that antidepressants are effective in treating depression in one third of people who take them. In one third of cases, partial success is reported, and in the same number of people, antidepressants fail to cause any relief. On the other hand, cognitive therapy for depression is reported to be successful in 70 % cases and curbing depression for good.

But this effect is only temporary. Antidepressants do bring relief for some time, but they are not the ultimate cure for depression. These drugs also affect your immune system in a long term. Thus you must find out some natural means to cure depression and depend on the same as a solution for long term. One such remedy is yoga and meditation.

Depression drugs have affected only 1/3rd of the population of depressed people as shown by the studies. As there are various reasons for depression, it is not possible to treat all the types with depression drugs.

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