The most recent NCHS brief also showed that for both men and women, rates of antidepressant use increased with age. Among women, antidepressant use rose from 10.3% among those aged 18 to 39 to 24.3% among women aged 60 and older.
If you are hoping to address depressive symptoms or believe you have some type of depression, antidepressants may be a good treatment option. You may need an antidepressant medication if you have multiple depressive symptoms that affect your daily functioning. Some of these symptoms include: Feeling sad or irritable.
Eleven percent of Americans aged 12 years and over take antidepressant medication. Females are more likely to take antidepressants than are males, and non-Hispanic white persons are more likely to take antidepressants than are non-Hispanic black and Mexican-American persons.
74% of mental health-related prescriptions dispensed were for antidepressant medications in 2021–22. mental health-related medications were dispensed in 2021–22. 4.7 million people (18% of Australians) filled a mental health-related prescription in 2021–22.
A common myth is that you need to take antidepressants forever. Many people use antidepressants for a few months and then slowly wean their way off the medication. Others take antidepressants for years before they discontinue the medication.
The American Psychological Association reports that 12.7 percent of the American population is on antidepressants. One analysis found that nearly 15.5 million people have taken antidepressants for more than five years.
Some believe it is unlikely that antidepressants cause any permanent changes to brain chemistry in the long term. The evidence seems to indicate that these medications cause brain changes that only persist while the medication is being taken or in the weeks following withdrawal.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most prescribed type of antidepressant and include: Fluoxetine. Citalopram.
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.
Antidepressants are a popular treatment choice for depression. Although antidepressants may not cure depression, they can reduce symptoms. The first antidepressant you try may work fine. But if it doesn't relieve your symptoms or it causes side effects that bother you, you may need to try another.
This class includes sertraline, citalopram, escitalopram, paroxetine, fluoxetine and fluvoxamine. SSRIs are: the most commonly prescribed antidepressants in Australia. often a doctor's first choice for most types of depression.
Your doctor might suggest that you try antidepressants if: You have tried counselling and lifestyle changes, and they haven't worked. Your symptoms are bad enough that they interfere with your daily life.
Taking antidepressants may help to lift your mood. This can help you feel more able to do things that don't feel possible while you're depressed. This may include using other types of support for your mental health.
Most antidepressants boost mood and reduce depression symptoms by elevating serotonin levels in the brain. Although this is beneficial for someone who's depressed, for someone who does not have depression, taking antidepressant medication can cause serotonin to build up in the body, resulting in serotonin syndrome.
Discontinuation symptoms disappear quickly if you take a dose of the antidepressant, while drug treatment of depression itself takes weeks to work. Discontinuation symptoms resolve as the body readjusts, while recurrent depression continues and may get worse.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
SSRIs are a type of medication people may use as a treatment for depression. People may also use SSRIs to treat mental health conditions that can cause intrusive thoughts, such as: OCD.
Some people are bothered by the idea that they might not be able to beat depression without medication. They think of antidepressants as a kind of crutch, and think they would see themselves as being weak and helpless if they had to rely on them. Others question whether they really need the medication to feel better.
The Medical Model of Depression
Perhaps the fundamental reason why antidepressants are so widely prescribed and used is that they fit with the 'medical model' of mental illness, which has become the standard view in western culture.
It's usually recommended that a course of antidepressants continues for at least 6 months after you feel better, to prevent your condition recurring when you stop. Some people with recurrent illness are advised to carry on taking medicine indefinitely.
Without antidepressants: About 20 to 40 out of 100 people who took a placebo noticed an improvement in their symptoms within six to eight weeks. With antidepressants: About 40 to 60 out of 100 people who took an antidepressant noticed an improvement in their symptoms within six to eight weeks.
Some feel that there are too many side effects or that they don't work or that others will judge them if they are taking antidepressants. Others fear they will become addicted to them or that they will change their personality. The choice to take antidepressants or not is indeed a pretty big one.
While you can't just ask for antidepressants, you can express interest in general antidepressants for treatment of depression to your doctor.
In the case of SSRIs, SNRIs, and related medications, the effects of taking antidepressants when not depressed can include developing a condition known as serotonin syndrome. Symptoms of this condition include the following: Confusion. Agitation.
Generally speaking, SSRIs and SNRIs are well-tolerated by most people. They also have good evidence supporting their long-term safety. Older antidepressants, like TCAs and MAOIs, tend to cause more side effects.