Antidepressants: Popular Choice for Depression Treatment, How?

Antidepressants: An Overview

Antidepressants are a class of drugs used to treat depression. However, these medicines can also reduce the symptoms of social anxiety disorder, anxiety disorders, seasonal affective disorder, dysthymia, or other conditions. Depression is a mental disorder that affects your brain’s functioning by causing imbalances in neurotransmitters.

Antidepressants help relieve the symptoms of depression by balancing the neurotransmitters in your brain, which are responsible for changes in behaviour or mood swings. Antidepressants are one of the leading culprits of erection issues in men. However, pills like cenforce 100 are often prescribed by doctors to help a man get back his erections. Cenforce 100 is a sildenafil citrate pill that helps get and maintain erections.

In a study, it has been found that females use antidepressants twice as compared to men. In the US, the use of antidepressants rose from 7.7% to 12.7 % from 2002 to 2014.

Types Of Antidepressants

Antidepressants are classified under the following 5 main categories:

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)

These are the most commonly recommended antidepressants. These antidepressants are known as selective because they affect only serotonin and not any other types of neurotransmitters. Serotonin is a chemical whose imbalance can lead to depression.

These medicines help improve the symptoms of depression by reducing the serotonin absorption in your brain, which increases the availability of serotonin in your brain. This in turn makes it easier for your brain to receive and send messages, resulting in better and more stable moods.

Some of the commonly prescribed SNRIs are:

• Citalopram
• Escitalopram
• Fluoxetine
• Fluvoxamine
• Paroxetine
• Sertraline

Serotonin And Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs)

After SSRIs, SNRIs are the second most commonly prescribed antidepressants. SNRIs aid in boosting the level of serotonin and norepinephrine neurotransmitters in the brain, which plays an important role in improving mood. Some of the most commonly used SNRIs are:

• Desvenlafaxine
• Duloxetine
• Venlafaxine
• Levomilnacipran

Besides being effective in treating depression, SNRIs and SSRIs can lead to the following side effects:

• Nausea
• Drowsiness
• Rashes
• Fatigue
• Low sodium levels
• Constipation
• Dry mouth
• Difficulty sleeping
• Nervousness
• Tremors
• Low blood sugar levels
• Weight loss
• Sweating
• Dizziness
• Headache
• Anxiety
• Agitation

These medications may also lead to erection problems in men. However, most men prefer taking pills like cenforce 100 to regain their erections. Cenforce 100 is a PDE5 inhibitor that aids in having an erection by increasing the flow of blood to the penis.

It has been found that people, especially those under 18 years who consume these two medications often get suicidal thoughts.

Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs)

Tricyclic antidepressants like clomipramine, desipramine, doxepin and imipramine contain three rings in their chemical structure hence their name and are often prescribed when SNRIs and SSRIs don’t seem to be helpful. Some of the common side effects of tricyclic antidepressants are:

• Rashes
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Cramps in abdomen
• Seizures
• Insomnia
• Anxiety
• Arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat
• High blood pressure
• abdomen
• Weight loss
• Constipation

However, these medications may also cause difficulty for a man to have erections. Pills like cenforce 100 are commonly prescribed by doctors that help men to get erections. Although cenforce 100 has some side effects which can further turn the situation worse.

Dopamine Reuptake Blockers

Dopamine reuptake blockers such as bupropion are used to treat depression and seasonal affective disorder. These medicines work by inhibiting the absorption of dopamine and norepinephrine.

Common side effects of dopamine reuptake blockers are:

• nausea
• vomiting
• constipation
• dizziness
• blurry vision

Tetracyclic Antidepressants

Tetracyclic antidepressants such as maprotiline are often prescribed to reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety. They aid in balancing the neurotransmitters in the brain, thus helping in overcoming the symptoms of depression. These side effects include:

• Blurred vision
• Headache
• Weakness
• Fatigue
• Drowsiness
• Dry mouth
• Dizziness

Noradrenaline And Specific Serotoninergic Antidepressants (NASSAs)

Medicines like Mianserin and Mirtazapine are commonly used to treat depression, anxiety disorders and certain personality disorders. Some of their common side effects include:

• Dizziness
• Blurred vision
• Weight gain
• Drowsiness
• Constipation
• Dry mouth

In rare cases, a person taking these medicines may experience some severe side effects like seizures, white blood cell reduction, fainting, and allergic reactions.

5-HT2 Receptor Antagonists

5-HT2 receptor antagonists like nefazodone and trazodone are also used to treat depression. They work by altering certain chemicals in your brain to ease the symptoms of depression. Common side effects are:

• Dizziness
• Dry mouth
• Drowsiness

Apart from 5-HT2 receptor antagonists, 5-HT3 receptor antagonists such as vortioxetine are also used to treat depression by altering the activity of some chemicals in the brain.

Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs)

These are one of the older drugs used to treat depression. Doctors prescribed MAOIs before the introduction of SSRIs and SNRIs. These medicines restrict the breakdown of norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin by inhibiting the action of a brain enzyme monoamine oxidase that helps in the breakdown of norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin.

Less breakdown of norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin increase their level in the brain, thus stabilising mood and controlling anxiety. However, some of their side effects are:

• Anxiety
• Seizures
• Rashes
• Blurred vision
• Edema
• Unexplained weight gain or weight loss
• Drowsiness
• Dizziness
• Headache
• Fainting
• High blood pressure

These medicines may also cause problems having an erection. However, pills like cenforce 100 are found to be effective in curing erection issues in men. In addition, Cenforce 100 helps in achieving harder erections that last longer.

Uses Of Antidepressants

Antidepressants are not only used to treat depression but also for reducing the symptoms of the following health conditions:

• Bipolar disorder
• Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Social anxiety disorder
• Agitation
• Depression and major depressive disorder
• Generalized anxiety disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD)
• Childhood enuresis, or bedwetting

In some cases, antidepressants can be used for treating health conditions that the FDA does not approve like pain, migraine and insomnia.

Conclusion

Depression is a chronic mental illness that can be life-threatening if left ignored. Different classes of antidepressants are available to treat symptoms of depression and other mental health-related issues. However, few potential side effects are associated with each antidepressant. Therefore, the doctor will prescribe you the most effective antidepressant based on your symptoms.