What Are The Advantages Of Antidepressants

Many drugs such as Aantidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs are highly effective and have the capacity to reduce and to control the depression or anxieties. These antidepressants provide temporary relief faster. The antidepressants are normally used to tone down the conditions like anxiety disorders, eating disorders and chronic pain.

It is true that the antidepressants take more time to reduce the symptoms but the therapy and dose must be taken as per the guidelines given by the doctor. The antidepressants like benzodiazepines and anti-psychotics help to manage the depression. Seventy per cent of people find benefits from antidepressants.

Antidepressants help reduce symptoms of the depression or anxiety. However, the complete cure cannot be ascertained. Antidepressants are taken to boost up the mood of the person and to increase the efficiency of psychotherapy. Various antidepressants are available that help to reduce several psychological disorders.

The most widely used antidepressant is Prozac and it is one of the most beneficial antidepressant with greater effectiveness in reducing depression. Antidepressants such as Sertraline, Escitalopram, Fluoxetine, Venlafaxine, Citalopram, Paroxetine, and Trazodone are commonly used in US. They modify moods and even affect on individual's behavior. The dose of antidepressants should be continued for at least two weeks for therapeutic effect.

Insomnia and Hypersomnia are the conditions that can cause loss of interests in daily activities. This condition affects person's status in social, professional and other important areas. Unfavorable life events also lead to depression whereas antidepressants help to tone down and bring about the change in human behavior or modify the mood of a person. Obviously, antidepressant if not taken according to a doctor's consultation may also affect adversely.

Advantageous antidepressants
Tricyclics also reduce depression that has lasted longer. Depressed patients are devoid of serotonin, norepinephrine in the brain of a person. Antidepressants help to boost the supply of these chemicals. The patients then are able to get back to a normal state. Tricyclics also block monoamine oxidase and thus act on the central nervous system

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are antidepressants which are used in the treatment of depressive disorders. These antidepressants contain drugs like citalopram, escitalopram, sertraline, fluoxetine, and paroxetine because of their safeties even after overdose. Studies have shown that antidepressants work better in children and teenagers. Sertraline brings improvements in youths. Bupropion is a better antidepressant for children and has been used in the treatment of attention deficit disorder.

Benefits
Antidepressants are utilized in the treatment of various psychological disorders amongst children, youths and aged people. Antidepressants have their own importance according to their dose and diagnosis. These antidepressants need to be taken under the instruction provided by the doctor.

Do Antidepressants Make Some People Drink More?

A number of studies conducted in the 1980s and the early 1990s showed that SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) such as Prozac led to short term reductions in alcohol consumption in both humans and rats. This led to a lot of enthusiasm and intensive research on the effects of SSRIs on alcohol consumption because some researchers hoped that SSRIs might hold the key to the cure for Alcoholism.

However, the research proved that the effects of SSRIs on alcohol consumption are far less simple than they initially appeared. The short term reductions in drinking in human alcoholics lasted no longer than a week and then the subjects were once again drinking just as much as they ever had. Moreover, the research showed that SSRIs may actually worsen drinking in Early Onset Alcohol Abusers and in women.

There is one group, however, which seems definitely to benefit from SSRIs. Patients who have both Alcohol Dependence and severe Major Depressive Disorder show significant improvement both in depression and alcohol consumption when treated with SSRIs. In this article we will take a look at the research which has been done on SSRIs and alcohol consumption in these populations.

In 1995 and 1996 Dr Henry Kranzler MD and his colleagues did a study which suggests that the SSRI Prozac may actually worsen the drinking behavior of Early Onset Alcohol Abusers while having no effect at all on Late Onset Alcohol Abusers. Early Onset Alcohol Abusers are defined as those who begin heavy drinking in early life and who have worse alcohol related consequences. Late Onset Alcohol Abusers are defined as those who begin heavy drinking later in life and have fewer alcohol related problems.

The Kranzler group studied the effects of Prozac on 95 non-depressed patients who were being treated with talk therapy for Alcohol Dependence. Half of these subjects received Prozac and the other half got a placebo. When Kranzler and his colleagues analyzed the group as a whole they found that there was no significant difference in improvement between the placebo group and the group receiving Prozac.

However, they then divided the patients up into two categories: Late Onset Alcohol Abusers and Early Onset Alcohol Abusers. When they reanalyzed the data using these two categories they obtained a very surprising result which was quite contrary to what they expected. They found that Early Onset Alcohol Abusers receiving the Prozac did significantly WORSE than the group receiving the placebo. There was no significant difference between the Late Onset Alcohol Abusers who received Prozac and those who received the placebo.

The Kranzler study strongly suggests that Prozac may actually worsen the drinking of Early Onset Alcohol Abusers who are not receiving any sort of talk therapy for their Alcohol Dependence. All that remains is for someone to do the crucial experiment needed to verify this highly likely conclusion.

In 1995 Dr Claudio Naranjo MD and his colleagues did a study of the effect of the SSRI Celexa on 62 non-depressed problem drinkers who were being taught moderate drinking strategies. 56% of the subjects in the study were male and 44% were female. Half of the subjects in the study got Celexa and the other half got a placebo. The Naranjo group found that women receiving the Celexa did significantly WORSE than women receiving the placebo in moderating their drinking. The men did the same whether they received Celexa or the placebo. This suggests that Celexa may actually INCREASE the drinking of female problem drinkers who are not receiving moderation training or some other form for talk therapy. All that is needed to confirm this is an experiment with drinkers who are receiving Celexa but no talk therapy.

The patients in the studies we have discussed so far did not suffer from severe Major Depressive Disorder. In 1997 Dr Jack Cornelius MD and his colleagues studied the effect of the SSRI Prozac on 51 patients with both severe Major Depressive Disorder and severe Alcohol Dependence. The subjects were 51% male and 49% female. All patients received talk therapy for their Alcohol Dependence. In addition to the talk therapy, 25 patients received Prozac and 26 received a placebo. In this study the patients who received the Prozac showed significantly greater improvements in both depression and in drinking outcomes than did those receiving the placebo. Taken together with the other studies this leads to the conclusion that SSRIs can lead to a reduction in drinking in people with severe Major Depressive Disorder but not in other groups.

In 2007 Dr Kathryn Graham PhD and her colleagues published the results of a massive telephone survey of 14,063 individuals in Canada which asked people about their use of alcohol and Antidepressants. This survey showed that depressed men who took antidepressants drank less alcohol on the average than did depressed men who did not take antidepressants. However, depressed women who took antidepressants drank at least as much as did depressed women who did not take antidepressants, if not more.

Like the Naranjo study, this study also suggests that antidepressants affect the drinking behavior of men differently than they do the drinking behavior of women. Since this study did not specifically ask respondents if they were taking an SSRI or another type of antidepressant such as a tricyclic we must be somewhat cautious in what we can conclude from it. It is possible that if the data were limited to SSRIs that the researchers might have seen an increase in the alcohol consumption of women taking the medication. It remains for further research to confirm whether this is actually the case.

Coping With Depression - Antidepressants, Serotonin, Exercise, Sleep and Drinking Tea

Are antidepressant drugs better than counseling or psychotherapy at helping people with clinical depression? Usually it is better to combine medicines and psychotherapy for the best results. Keep in mind that finding the right therapy is often a process of trial and error. Be patient, do not give up and keep searching.

Where do we get our information concerning Depression treatments from? The usual places are our doctors, therapists, the mass media or the internet. Sometimes it is a combination of all these sources that defines our current view of treatment options. Keep in mind that the mass media is either biased or it is manipulated by interest groups and companies that wants to keep the image of their products and public relations as high as possible. Getting to the heart of the matter or sniffing out the truth is quite difficult in such an environment. Information concerning depression treatments and medications that are less than flattering to doctors or pharmaceutical companies do not get the mainstream exposure it deserves.

Antidepressants help to control or influence the way the brain uses serotonin, the chemical that is very important in regulating your moods. It is given off by brain cells in response to other signals traveling through the brain. This substance is very important for brain signals since it helps the messages to travel from cell to cell. Cells also absorb any unused serotonin. Antidepressants basically interfere with this absorption process which keeps more serotonin between cells. When there is enough serotonin available, you should feel calm and not anxious or depressed.

Medication is not the only option open to you. Other natural treatments for depressive disorder may include B-complex supplements and omega-3 fatty acids. A hyperactive or under active thyroid may also cause depressive moods.

Antidepressant medication can cause dryness in your mouth. This may lead to mouth problems such as tooth cavities and yeast infections. It is important to keep your mouth wet. Try chewing gum or rinsing your mouth regularly.

Exercise is also a good way to stop depression from taking root in your life. People who do no exercise are more likely to develop a mood disorder than people who exercise regularly. Also, keep doing exercises since abruptly quitting an exercise routine for a few weeks may lead you to experience fatigue, irritability and a worsening mood.

It is also important to get enough sleep, but not too much. Persons who suffer from depression may either experience insomnia or hypersomnia. So how many hours of sleep should we get each night? I recently read about a study which concluded that 6 to 7 hours per night is the best. Insomnia is very uncomfortable, but it is better than taking sleeping pills where your health is concerned.

Some research are suggesting that drinking a lot of ordinary black or green tea may be a good thing. Tea contains an amino acid called L-theanine which can positively influence the chemical mixture in the brain to reduce stressful feelings. It may also increase the levels of tryptophan in the brain. Tryptophan is an amino acid and a precursor to serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical that alters the mood in a relaxing way. If you ever needed a reason to drink five cups of tea per day, this is it. Remember that it is usually better to drink it without any milk. It is much more traditional as well, especially when drinking green tea.

This article has touched upon more than one subject concerning depressive disorder, but it may give you a few ideas you can pursue further. It is good to learn about developments and other treatments in the area of coping with depression disorders.