Facts About Antidepressants

Yes we all live in a stressful world and we all go through depression in varying degrees and ways. With a gamut of antidepressants that have come into the market how safe do we feel reading antidepressant reviews and then deciding this is the one for me?

Mental Health Professionals

We need the guidance of our mental health professional before we pop those so called miracle depression curing pills into our mouths. Before that it is a good idea to read some facts about antidepressants and distinguish fact from fiction. It’s also just as important to know that natural options like pets for depression are effective as well. Momentarily it may seem that antidepressants are working. Yet we have to get to the root cause of the problem causing depression or we are going to suffer dangerous side effects that the very antidepressant effects bring in.

Antidepressant Information

As the name suggests antidepressants are drugs used to treat a person who is depressed besides something like support groups for depression. They work by altering a group of chemicals in the brain known as neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine, recognised as mood enhancers. Antidepressants benefit in short enhance mood and is a complementary treatment while the problem by itself has to be tackled by mental health therapy.

Antidepressant Effects

It takes about two to four weeks for the antidepressant effects to set in because increasing the neurotransmitters takes time. In cases of mild depression antidepressants’ benefit are negligible. However 60% of the individuals who have consumed antidepressant pills for chronic depression do see some positive changes. Antidepressant pills have to be taken without missing a dose for three to four weeks at least. The course is to be taken for six months or more for the results to become visible.

Antidepressant Side Effects

Some facts about antidepressants and their side effects are evident in clinical studies. Feeling sick and low all the time, lack of sex drive, dry mouth,  lack of sleep and appetite, loss of libido in men, blurred vision and nausea are some of the antidepressant effects. If these effects persist, then you might have to meet your mental health care provider. He may change or withdraw the regime.

Although antidepressant reviews of most drugs state that the side effects are minimal there have been severe contraindications. This is because some antidepressants react severely with drugs and even over the counter medicines they are not recommended for pregnant women although they may be going through prenatal or postnatal blues.  Often antidepressants cause a syndrome called pulmonary high in babies where the blood pressure shoots up in the lungs causing breathing difficulties. Antidepressant effects on pregnancy have been clinically studied and it is concluded that in extreme depression mild form of the antidepressant can be given to calm the mother, especially during postnatal depression.

Alternate Therapies

Alternate therapies like cognitive therapy, healing. Aroma therapy, yoga and exercises have been found to be the best alternative, although antidepressant reviews says that herbal supplements can be used as antidepressants. However we do not know the efficacy or side effects of these supplements because most of them may not have approvals and are got online or over the counter. Lot of facts about antidepressants are still being tested and studied and antidepressants benefits in treating depression are still questionable except as a complementary treatment.