Medications

The current proven most effective treatment for depression is a combination of antidepressant medication and therapy – usually Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

It is very important to discuss your personal treatment with your GP or other health care professional that you trust and can work with to find the best treatment approach for you.

Here we provide both factual information, and thoughts from other 'people like us' who have depression and from experts, on some of the most common questions and issues around antidepressant medication.

Do I need to take antidepressants?

Finding the right antidepressant medication for you

How long will I need to take antidepressant medication?

Will I recover from depression?  Will it return?

How do antidepressant medications work?

Types (categories) of antidepressant medication

A list of antidepressant medication 
with links through to the Consumer Medicine Information (CMI)

Sex and Antidepressants - an article on issues with medication and sexual function

 

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Finding the right antidepressant for you

Firstly, what is 'the right' antidepressant?    

It is the one that provides the maximum benefits with minimum side effects.
 

Unfortunately there is no 'one size fits all' where antidepressant medications are concerned.  While there is reseach currently being conducted to learn more about the different types of antidepressants and how to better chose the the right one for each person, it is still mostly a case of trial and error!   We are all different, and unfortunately there is no simple set of rules!
 

Finding the right antidepressant and the right dosage is likely to involve a period of trial and adjustment, and you will need to work closely with your doctor on this.  Many people need to try at least 2 or 3, and it may take many more than this to find the one that is right for you.

This can be a difficult and frustrating time.  A day can seem like an eternity with depression, so to spend weeks taking a medication only to realise it isn't working for you and have to start again on another can be really tough.  The one thing that all who go through this process agree when they find the medication that gets and keeps them well, is that it is worth it!
 

While a particular antidepressant may be working in relieving the symptoms of depression, it may be that you experience unpleasant side effects and hence it is not the best one for you.  It is very important that you don't just stop taking any antidepressant but that you see your doctor regularly during this period and let them know exactly what is happening for you!   You and your doctor really do need to work together to find the right medication – with maximum treatment benefits and minimum side effects = for you as soon as possible.

Don't give up!

When you do find the medication that works for you and are well again, it will have been well worth the effort.

 

  

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How Do Antidepressant Medications Work?

Prescription antidepressant medication (drug) treatments for depression work by increasing the amount of neurotransmitters in the brain.

Communication between nerve cells in the central nervous system is an electrochemical process, and neurotransmitters are the chemicals which enable one nerve cell to 'talk' to the next one and to send messages on through the nervous system, specifically the brain.  The neurotransmitters that seem to be of greatest relevance in depression are norepinephrine and serotonin.

There are a number of different categories (types) of antidepressant medications that work in different ways.   
 

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