Antidepressants

About

Antidepressants are medicines that help mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. They can cause side effects and affect other medicines you take. Support is available if you or someone you know is having a mental health crisis or emergency, no matter what you're going through. Find out where to get urgent help for mental health Antidepressants are a type of medicine mainly used to treat the symptoms of depression, as well as other conditions. Antidepressants can be used to treat conditions including: obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) panic disorder social anxiety (social phobia) bulimia phobias dementia fibromyalgia or nerve pain migraine bedwetting in children Antidepressants usually take 1 to 2 weeks to start having an effect and can take up to 8 weeks to work fully. If you're prescribed antidepressants, you'll usually take them for at least 6 months after you feel better. It's thought antidepressants work by increasing levels of chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters. Some neurotransmitters, like serotonin and noradrenaline, are linked to mood and emotion. The main types of antidepressant are: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – these are the most widely used type of antidepressants selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) monoamine-oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) – these are now rarely used to treat depression There are also several other types. All types of antidepressant generally work as well as each other to treat symptoms of depression. But there are differences in who can take them and the side effects. Some people find certain types work better for them, cause fewer side effects or cause side effects that are easier to deal with. SSRIs will usually be the first type prescribed because the side effects are generally easier to manage, and they are less likely to cause serious problems if you take too much o