Understand the Depression Medications Benefits |

Deciding whether or not to take depression medications for controlling mood disorders is a decision that only you can make.

Talking to your health care provider about the possible benefits and/or side effects of the anti depression drug medication that he or she is prescribing for you is certainly advised.

Depression medications are frequently needed when one suffers from various kinds of mental disorders. Depression treatment medications perform by affecting neurotransmitter chemicals found in the brain.

Anti depression drug medication drugs are not just some kind of happy pill. They come with health risks and possible side effects in addition to the benefits if they have been prescribed correctly.

Important note – only take these kinds of medicines under the supervision of a properly qualified health care professional.

It is important to remember that there are various medications for depression and that different medications work for some people, while other medicines are needed to perform for other people.

Just because Prozac has worked really well with one of your friends doesn’t mean that you will find it helpful.

The only way to really know if depression medications are eliminating your depression signs is with experience and length of treatment, meaning, after several weeks or months, a person will know if a particular depression medication is working or not.

In general, it will take about four to eight weeks for the anti medication to begin to work. Here is an overview of depression medications, depression treatment medications, how antidepressants work plus mood disorders depression and risks and benefits of an anti depression drug medication.

There are several kinds medications for depression that are currently used for treating depressive disorders.

They are:
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors – SSRIs and other newer depression medications that work to affect brain neurotransmitters usually have fewer side effects than tricyclics.

Tricyclics… and related antidepressants
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors – MAOIs…

Doctors will often experiment with different medications for depression before they can find the depression medication or combination of medicines that performs as required. And often, all that is needed is to increase the medication for depression quantity to be effective.

When a health care provider performs an evaluation, a history of depression symptoms should be collected and evaluated.

For example, when did the patient first begin having these symptoms, how mild or severe are they, did the patient have them before and, if yes, were the symptoms treated by a health care professional and what was the treatment? Was alcohol abuse and drug use an issue and has the patient had thoughts about suicide or death?

At this stage, the evaluation should include gathering information from the patient about whether or not there are other family members needing an anti depression drug medication.

If so, what medicines did they receive and were they effective? And finally, the health care professional’s evaluation should determine if the patient’s speech or thought patterns or memory have been affected as a result of the depressive illness.

Depending on the evaluation, a mood stabilizing medication, anti-psychotic medication and a wide variety of antidepressants will be prescribed for the patient. If the depression is observed as a mild form, perhaps psychotherapy only will be the first choice of treatment.

Persons suffering from depression that is classified as moderate to severe usually do best with a combination of medications for depression and psychotherapy.

Make sure you let your health care provider know what kind of medicines you are allergic to or if you are taking other types of medication. It is also recommended that you let him or her know if you have high blood pressure, heart disease, glaucoma, seizures or any other medical problem.

If you are pregnant or are breast feeding, please let your doctor know before he or she prescribes any depression medications.

Once they find out that they have to take antidepressant medicine, many people will worry about the short and long term effects of the drug, how the medication will affect their sex life, memory, coordination, intellectual capability and their quality of life.

The other aspect of antidepressant drugs that makes people feel uncomfortable is the fact they may have to take the medication for the rest of their lives.