Depression is a mental illness marked by feelings of melancholy, unfavourable thoughts, and a pessimistic outlook. Depressed people frequently feel hopeless about their current circumstances, a sensation that can progress into serious mental disease and psychological illnesses like schizophrenia. These emotions can occasionally get so bad that a person considers killing himself. Therefore, in order to live a normal life, it’s crucial to locate a suitable method of lowering depression. Additionally, Anxiety medication because depressive symptoms frequently recur and can even become chronic, a comprehensive treatment for the illness is required. The usage of particular depression drugs is the approach to treating depression that is most frequently prescribed out of all those that are accessible.
How do drugs for depression work?
The US Food and Drug Administration has given the go-ahead for a number of different antidepressants to treat depression. The fundamental idea behind the usage of these drugs is to change the concentration of specific chemical messengers that are already present in the brain to reach the proper balance in terms of the functionality of the mind. These chemical messengers, sometimes referred to as neurotransmitters, carry nerve signals throughout the brain and are necessary for maintaining mood. These antidepressants primarily target the 5-hydroxytryptamine or serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, acetyl choline, and adrenergic receptors in the brain. The chemical messenger that causes depression is examined based on the pattern of depression, and treatment is then given in accordance with the results.
Different types of antidepressants:
The three main classes of antidepressant medications can be roughly divided based on the neurotransmitters they target. These comprise:
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs): This class of medications selectively interferes with the reuptake of serotonin or norepinephrine and is very selective in terms of its targets. When treating depression, doctors typically start with SSRIs.
These are the first-generation antidepressants, tricyclics. The name was given to them because of their three-ringed cyclic structure. These drugs block neurons’ ability to absorb serotonin and norepinephrine. Tricyclics act in a more general than selective manner, though. They even prevent other important neurotransmitters in the brain from functioning. Patients who do not respond to SSRIs are prescribed tricyclics as a backup option for treating their depression.
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs): An enzyme called monoamine oxidase is found between neurons and renders neurotransmitters inactive by oxidising them. Inhibitors of monoamine oxidase are known to particularly kill this enzyme. Interestingly, the enzyme also exists in the colon where it eliminates dangerous tyramine before it is absorbed. A molecule called tyramine, which is found in some meals, raises blood pressure if it enters the bloodstream. The usage of MAOIs also has a number of additional negative effects, including weight gain, excessive sedation, anxiety, dry mouth, and constipation. Only after all other depression drugs have failed can MAOIs be taken.
