Antidepressants

Abstract

Antidepressant medications have numerous clinical uses in the field of psychiatry. There are many antidepressant classes, with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors being commonly used in clinical practice for depression and anxiety. Although these medications are effective, complete clinical effect is not rapid and full relief of symptoms can take more than a month. However, side effects with antidepressants can be expected to occur upon initiation of treatment and may lead to patient nonadherence. Education and appropriate patient counseling are necessary to assure that the therapeutic effects of medications are maximized. Treatment with antidepressants should be tailored to patient-specific criteria. This review contains 1 figure, 4 tables and 43 references Key Words: antidepressants, FDA-approved, obsessive-compulsive disorder, monoamine oxidase, MAOIs, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants.