How do Antidepressants Work?
Ever been diagnosed with a mental or physical health condition, then you must have been recommended antidepressants to mitigate your symptoms. According to research, antidepressant usage is at an unparalleled sky-scraping height. With so much ambiguity churning around, we would be jumping straight in and delivering you a lowdown on this most misunderstood use of drugs.
What are Antidepressants?
Antidepressants are drugs available for prescription usage on the NHS guidelines and for people with depressive disorders to relieve their signs. When appropriately prescribed and consumed as per the instructions, they prove to be an efficacious means of treatment for depression.
Many individuals are aware of this, but few Antidepressants can also be recommended to treat other conditions, i.e.:
- Anxiety
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Bulimia
- Phobias
- A few physical conditions including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Even though antidepressants are usually recommended for depressive disorders as well as associated medical conditions, more often than not this is only for people experiencing moderate to severe signs. On the other hand, antidepressants may be approved for long-standing mild depression or mild depression having a bad impact on a chronic physical condition.
For people with mild depression, other treatments ranging from counseling as well as meditation to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) are highly beneficial according to NHS guidelines. Self-referral can also give promising results.
How do Antidepressants Work?
Antidepressants work by prolonging as well as escalating the activity of chemicals in our brains. These chemicals called neurotransmitters act by transferring messages between nerve cells in the brain. Several neurotransmitters like noradrenaline and serotonin are found to be involved in controlling mood and emotion, even though the exact process isn’t completely understood by science.
It must be noted that antidepressants are successful in treating the signs of depression; they don’t essentially treat the causes. For this reason, they are frequently used besides therapy as a more holistic means to tackle the root of a person’s mental health problems.
Antidepressants for Anxiety:
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and Serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). These classes of antidepressants alter the levels of neurotransmitters namely, serotonin and noradrenaline in your brain.
- Tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs)
- Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)
- Atypical antidepressants such as mirtazapine
These are the antidepressants that also work as anxiety medications (Buspar, Arava).
How Effective are Antidepressants?
Antidepressants are certainly an effective means to treat acute major depressive disorder in adults. The research study describes the response rates and the probability of people when they stop taking their medicine, and observed that antidepressants were more effective as compared to a placebo.
Research studies also reported contradictory results for diverse kinds of antidepressants: fluoxetine, for instance, was one of the least effectual but had one of the lowest dropout rates. By itself, it can frequently be complicated to foretell how effective an antidepressant can be in easing the signs of a particular individual.
What’s more, few antidepressants can interact with other drugs or certain substances, and this can have an impact on the working of antidepressants. The success of a particular antidepressant, as a result, is based upon several interwoven factors. Except for overdose from an antidepressant, there is also a possibility of an increased risk of overdose on the whole.
A side effect related to the drug is a risk of suicidal feelings or urges, most likely bringing about other forms of overdose. In the early stages of treatment, yet, antidepressants may give you the energy to act on suicidal urges before the beginning of the depressive signs.
Antidepressants can be an efficacious means to treat a range of health issues, acting as a support for a large group of people.