Depression: How Effective Are Antidepressants? - Anti Depression

Hello, we meet again on this web site Anti Depresion Pedia at this juncture will talk about Depression: How effective are antidepressants?. For this topic I wish to provide the most beneficial and simple to implement for you.

Like psychological approaches, antidepressants are a key part of treating . They aim to relieve symptoms and prevent depression from coming back.

Opinions vary on how effective antidepressants are in relieving the symptoms of showed:

• 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.

In other words, antidepressants improved symptoms in about 20 more people out of 100.

Antidepressants can also relieve long-term (chronic depressive disorder (dysthymia) or chronic depression) and help make itgo away completely.

An antidepressant can already have an effect within one or two weeks. But it may take longer for the symptoms to improve.

Additional medication can also be taken. That might help to relieve the symptoms, but no antidepressant can guarantee that. It can take a long time for a medication to start helping some people. Other people still have symptoms even after trying several different medications. They can then discuss the alternative treatment options with their doctor.

How effectively do antidepressants prevent relapses?

Antidepressants are usually taken for one to two years, sometimes longer, to prevent relapses. Relapse prevention may be a good idea for people who

• have already had several relapses,

• absolutely want to avoid a relapse, or

Studies involving adults show that taking commonly used antidepressants such as TCAs, SSRIs or SSNRIs lowers the risk of relapses, but cannot completely prevent them.

• Without preventive treatment: About 50 out of 100 people who took a placebo had a relapse within one to two years.

• With preventive treatment: About 23 out of 100 people who took an antidepressant had a relapse within one to two years.

In other words, taking an antidepressant for a longer period successfully prevented a relapse in an average of 27 out of 100 people.

What side effects do antidepressants have?

Like all medications, antidepressants can have side effects. Over half of all people who useantidepressants report experiencing side effects. They usually occur during the first few weeks of treatment and are less common later on.

Some of these side effects are believed to be a direct consequence of the medication's effect on the brain and are relatively similar among various drugs of the same group. Patients who are taking antidepressants sometimes have a dry mouth, headaches, feel faint, anxious, and have a decreased sex drive. These kinds of symptoms are often perceived to be a side effect of the medications. But some of them may be caused by the .

IQWiG health information is written with the aim of helping people understand the advantages and disadvantages of the main treatment options and health care services.

Because IQWiG is a German institute, some of the information provided here is specific to the German health care system. The suitability of any of the described options in an individual case can be determined by talking to a doctor. We do not offer individual consultations.

Our information is based on the results of good-quality studies. It is written by a team of health care professionals, scientists and editors, and reviewed by external experts. You can find a detailed description of how our health information is produced and updated in our methods.