Depression is one of the most widely spread mental disorder in the world with a constantly increasing number of people, suffering from that. Fortunately, there is a great number of depression medications and other treatments for depression that are available these days which are effective in reduction or even curing depression. Among the depression treatments prescription antidepressant medication are the most commonly used.
In general it’s possible to distinguish four types of these medications; howeversome prescription treatments for depression don’t belong toany of the four types. These four types are: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors or SSRIs, Tricyclics Antidepressants or TCAs, Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors or MAOIs, and Serotonin/Norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors or SNRIs.
All these depression medications have many features in commonregarding the way they act. They all work by raising the neurotransmitters level in the brain. All mentioned depression treatments may provoke some serious adverse reactions, although these side reactionsdiffer depending on the type of antidepressant. Moreover, all types of depression drugs start showing its positive effect on the patient only after a period of treatment of several days to weeks. It’s necessary to take antidepressantsregularly over months and sometimes years before medication levels may be lowered or the medications may not be needed any more.
In spite the fact that the effect of antidepressant medications on the levels of neurotransmitter is well documented, there is no accurate knowledge on how they actually work to reducedepression. Some theories state that the excessive levels of neurotransmitters induced by antidepressants result in a down-regulation of neurotransmitter-receptors, which has a positive effect. Others think that antidepressants have positive longer term effects.No matter what the exact causes of the effect of the antidepressant medication are, they definitely work for many people. Along with psychotherapy, antidepressant medications are the treatments for depression that are chosen by most medical professionals. However, all types of depression medication can also produce tolerance, leading to the need of increasing the dosage or to start another depression treatment. Moreover, withdrawal effects often occur when the patient stops taking the medication, leading to lengthy dependence on the medications used.
Generally speaking, the classic types of depression medication certainly have their advantages. But still,because of the possibility of adverse reactions, the emergence of tolerance and the possible danger of establishing dependency on the medications, these treatments should be taken only under the guidance and supervision by a doctor. Moreover, the depressed patient should work on improving his condition beside taking the medications. A healthy nutrition, exercising as well as mental training, such as meditation are all additional treatments for depression that are recommended to be applied to help the patient who suffers from a depression toovercome it.