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Antidepressants
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Antidepressants are the first line of treatment for depression. Annual sales of antidepressants are approximately $50 billion, making this class of drugs one of the leading prescription medications. Many pharmaceutical companies engage in direct-to-consumer marketing of antidepressants through television and print media. So, patients have a large influence on the prescribing patterns of health-care providers when it comes to antidepressants. Antidepressants are commonly prescribed, but what are they, exactly? How do they work?
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Antidepressants are medicines used to help people who have depression. Antidepressant medications may be indicated for those children and adolescents with bipolar depression, psychotic depression, depression with severe symptoms that prevent effective psychotherapy or counseling, and depression that does not respond to psychotherapy. However, given the psychosocial dynamics that often coexist with depression, antidepressants are usually insufficient as the only treatment for children who have the disorder. Psychotherapy is often recommended as an adjunct treatment along with the prescribed antidepressant. The use of antidepressants among children has been growing steadily since the late 1980s.
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Antidepressants do not seem to have all of the same addictive qualities as other substances such as nicotine, caffeine, cocaine, or other stimulants. There is... ongoing controversy on the definition of addiction. While some antidepressants may cause dependence and withdrawal they do not seem to cause uncontrollable urges to increase the dose due to euphoria or pleasure. For example, if an SSRI medication is suddenly discontinued, it may produce both somatic and psychological withdrawal symptoms, a phenomenon known as "SSRI discontinuation syndrome" (Tamam & Ozpoyraz, 2002). When the decision is made to stop taking antidepressants it is common practice to “wean” off of them by slowly decreasing the dose over a period of several weeks.
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Antidepressants can have an effect on many other medicines. If you're going to take an antidepressant, tell your doctor about all the other medicines you take, including over-the-counter medicines and herbal health products (such as St. John's wort). Ask your doctor and pharmacist if any of your regular medicines can cause problems when combined with an antidepressant.
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Antidepressants increased the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children, adolescents, and young adults in short-term studies of major depressive disorder and other psychiatric disorders. Patients of all ages started on therapy should be observed closely for clinical worsening, suicidality, or unusual changes in behavior. Families and caregivers should be advised of the need for close observation and communication with the prescriber. SEROQUEL and SEROQUEL XR are not approved for use in patients under the age of 18 years. SEROQUEL XR is not approved for the treatment of depression; ... SEROQUEL is approved for the treatment of bipolar depression.
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Antidepressants represent one of the most widely prescribed classes of medications in use today. There are over 20 different antidepressant medications on the market in the USA. Many of these medications are used for much more than their name would suggest. In addition to treating clinical major depressive disorder, they can be effective treatment for anxiety, panic disorder, social phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, sleep disturbances, pain, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Many of the so-called "newer generation" antidepressants have improved side-effect profiles and ... have been prescribed at a much higher frequency than ever before. The justification for this increased use remains a point of controversy among healthcare professionals and society as well.
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Antidepressants