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Anti-Depressant Drugs are medicines that relieve symptoms of mental depression.

Purpose
Anti-depressant Drugs are used to treat serious, continuing mental depression that interferes with a person's ability to function. Everyone feels sad, "blue, " or discouraged occasionally, but usually those feelings do not interfere with every day life and do not need treatment. However, when the feelings become overwhelming and last for weeks or months, professional treatment can help. Although depression is one of the most common and serious mental disorders, it is also one of the most treatable. If untreated, depression can lead to social withdrawal, physical complaints, such as fatigue, sleep problems, and aches and pains, and even suicide.

The first step in treating depression is an accurate diagnosis by a physician or mental health professional. The physician or mental health professional will ask questions about the person's medical and psychiatric history and will try to rule out other causes, such as thyroid problems or side effects of medicines the person is taking. Lab tests may be ordered to help rule out medical problems. Once a person has been diagnosed with depression, treatment will be tailored to the person's specific problem. The treatment may consist of drugs alone, counseling alone, or drugs in combination with counseling methods such as psychotherapy or cognitive behavioral therapy.

Anti-depressant Drugs help reduce the extreme sadness, hopelessness, and lack of interest in life that are typical in people with depression. These drugs also may be used to treat other conditions, such as obsessive compulsive disorder, premenstrual syndrome, chronic pain, and eating disorders.

Description
Anti-depressant Drugs, also called Anti-depressants, are thought to work by influencing communication between cells in the brain. The drugs affect chemicals called neurotransmitters, which carry signals from one nerve cell to another. These Neuro-transmitters are involved in the control of mood and in other responses and functions, such as eating, sleep, pain, and thinking.

The main types of Anti-depressant Drugs in use today are:

• Tricyclic Anti-depressants, such as Amitriptyline (Elavil), Imipramine (Tofranil), Nortriptyline (Pamelor)
• Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs or Serotonin Boosters), such as fluoxetine (Prozac), Paroxetine (Paxil), and Sertraline (Zoloft)
• Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAO Inhibitors), such as Phenelzine (Nardil), and Tranylcypromine (Parnate)
• Lithium (used mainly to treat manic depression, but also sometimes prescribed for recurring bouts of depression).

Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors act only on the Neuro-transmitter Serotonin, while tricyclic Anti-depressants and MAO Inhibitors act on both Serotonin and another Neuro-transmitter, Norepinephrine, and may also interact with other chemicals throughout the body. Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors have fewer side effects than Tricyclic Anti-depressants and MAO Inhibitors, perhaps because Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors act only on one body chemical, Serotonin.

Because the Neuro-transmitters involved in the control of moods are also involved in other processes, such as sleep, eating, and pain, drugs that affect these Neuro-transmitters can be used for more than just treating depression. Headache, eating disorders, bed-wetting, and other problems are now being treated with Anti-depressants.

All Anti-depressant Drugs are effective, but certain types work best for certain kinds of depression. For example, people who are depressed and agitated do best when they take an anti-depressant drug that also calms them down. People who are depressed and withdrawn may benefit more from an anti-depressant drug that has a stimulating effect.

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