The most effective antidepressant compared to placebo was the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline, which increased the chances of treatment response more than two-fold (odds ratio [OR] 2.13, 95% credible interval [CrI] 1.89 to 2.41).
Fluoxetine is probably the best known SSRI (sold under the brand name Prozac). Other SSRIs include citalopram (Cipramil), escitalopram (Cipralex), paroxetine (Seroxat) and sertraline (Lustral).
Perhaps the most recognizable among them is Prozac (fluoxetine). It's still the best option for many people, but since it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1987, Prozac has been joined by a variety of other antidepressant medications.
Both Prozac and Zoloft are considered powerful mental health medications, comparably effective at treating depression and reducing anxiety for the patients who take them. A few clinical trials suggest that Zoloft may have less serious side effects than Prozac.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
SSRIs include fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva), sertraline (Zoloft), citalopram (Celexa) and escitalopram (Lexapro).
In 2020, Germany spent $812 million (€783 million) on antidepressants. Spain ($649 million or €626 million) and Italy ($456 million or €440 million) are the other leading countries for spending on antidepressants.
As per the data released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the use of antidepressants increased nearly two and half times across Europe between 2000 and 2020, with Iceland in the top spot, followed immediately by Sweden and Norway, with Finland and Denmark coming in at number eight and nine.
Americans buy much more medicine per person than any other country. The number of prescriptions has swelled by two-thirds over the past decade to 3.5 billion yearly, according to IMS Health, a pharmaceutical consulting company. Americans devour even more nonprescription drugs, polling suggests.
In head-to-head comparisons between the drugs, five were identified as having a combination of better effectiveness and lower drop-out rates, compared to others: the SSRIs escitalopram, paroxetine and sertraline, and atypicals agomelatine and mirtazapine.
SSRIs are usually the first choice medicine for depression because they generally have fewer side effects than most other types of antidepressant. As well as depression, SSRIs can be used to treat a number of other mental health conditions, including: generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)
Ketamine. Ketamine is a medication originally used for anesthesia and pain relief, but medical professionals also use it to help people with treatment-resistant depression. Unlike other antidepressants, ketamine can improve depression symptoms in just a few hours.
Doctors often start by prescribing an SSRI. These drugs are considered safer and generally cause fewer bothersome side effects than other types of antidepressants. SSRIs include citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva), sertraline (Zoloft) and vilazodone (Viibryd).
Reporting by race
Non-Hispanic whites reported the highest rate of antidepressant use (16.6%), followed by non-Hispanic blacks (7.8%), Hispanics (6.5%), and non-Hispanic Asians (2.8%). Usage was highest among non-Hispanic white women (22.3%).
They may also dial down feelings of happiness and joy. This flattening of feelings, called “emotional blunting" or “reduced affect,” is a potential side effect of antidepressants, especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
For people with chronic or severe depression, medication may be needed on a long-term basis. In these cases, antidepressants are often taken indefinitely. That is, in part, because depression is not an illness that can be cured.
Results: Citalopram was the most prescribed study antidepressant, followed by mirtazapine.
About one in every 10 Americans takes an antidepressant to treat various mental health disorders. In recent years, stars like Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Chrissy Teigen have spoken about taking medication to treat mental illness.
Takeaway. The FDA has recently approved brexanolone (Zulresso) and esketamine (Spravato) to treat depression. These new approaches for treating depression appear to offer some worthwhile advantages compared to SSRIs and SNRIs, including acting in hours as opposed to days or weeks.
Drug Therapies
Antidepressants often prescribed for chronic fatigue include: Tricyclics: amitriptyline (Elavil), desipramine (Norpramin), notriptyline (Pamelor) Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs): citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac), paroxetine (Paxil), sertraline (Zoloft)