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Depression Help (Home) > Depression Treatment > Medication for Depression Medication: Antidepressant and Side Effects"There are no drugs that will make you immune to stress or pain or that will by themselves magically solve your life problems or promote healing. It will take conscious effort on your part to move in a direction of healing and inner peace." Anti-Depressant MedicationClinical depression is thought to be caused by low levels of a number of chemicals in the brain that normally improve mood. Anti-depressant medication works by boosting these low chemical levels. There are different types of anti-depressants and newer ones are being developed all the time, unfortunately some people who may be clinically depressed refuse to take their medication, and this potentially means that the depression is not properly treated and could actually get worse. Research shows that the more quickly your problem is identified and treated then the less severe it becomes and the higher chance of preventing a relapse. Anti-depressants should never be used on their own but should ideally form part of a package of treatment including where appropriate the talking therapies. Research has shown that people whose illness is severe who receive medication and one of the talking therapies do better than people who receive only medication or only talking therapy. Some people won't get any benefit from the talking therapy on its own, because they are so low and severely depressed, but when the talking therapy is combined with medication they are then able to benefit from the talking therapy. Anti-depressant medications are not addictive but you should never suddenly stop medication without your GP's knowledge. Side Effects of MedicationThere is no such thing as a 100% safe, risk free, medication. Even the the so-called herbal treatments can and do have side effects. Unfortunately life isn't risk free, everything we do has a theoretical risk. We have to balance the risk of things we do against the potential gain. Taking medication isn't ideal but we don't live in a perfect or ideal world. Chronic diseases like anxiety/depression are severe diseases that can and do wreak havoc on people's psychological, physiological and social lives and should never be treated lightly. There can be side effects of medication in a few people, and 80% of people stop taking their medication due to side effects. Not everybody suffers side effects and in the people that do the majority of these are minor and resolve themselves after they have been taking them for a short time. It's important to discuss any side effects you may experience with your GP who may decide to try you on another different type of medication. We need to balance the potential risks of taking the medication with the risks of not taking the medication. For example in some severely depressed people who don't take medication, there is a risk of suicide. Left untreated depression can increase our risk of suffering many health problems such as heart disease. Research has shown that taking anti-depressant medication can reduce our risk of heart attack or stroke. To come to a balanced decision we have to ensure the information we are given is accurate and up to date. The media, friends and relatives are well-meaning when they offer advice but they are not qualified health professionals and therefore do not have up to date information, so the advice they give may not be correct, despite how well meaning it is. Drugs are not the long term, ideal solution for every case, except for serious cases. If you have any concerns discuss them with your doctor or pharmacist. It is also vital to deal with the psychological issues like chronic unresolved stress that may have played a role in the development of your health problem. In the packet of medication you will find a leaflet that by law lists all known, potential side effects that can occur with that pharmaceutical. Don't worry it doesn't mean every person taking it may develop all these side effects. Even if only a very few people out of millions taking the drug suffered that side effect, by law it still has to be listed. Taking MedicationResearch has indicated that many people are not taking their medication as prescribed and so are not obtaining the full benefits. For example research has shown that 50% of people do not take their anti-depressant medication properly. It is important to take the medication as per instructions, check whether you have to take it before, during or after meals. This is important because this can affect the medication's absorption and therefore it's effectiveness. You have to allow a number of weeks for the medication to build up in your bloodstream, so you may not notice benefits at first but its important to persevere and keep taking it, and you will notice the benefits. Once the medication has lifted the depression don't stop taking it, because you could suffer a relapse. The current advice is to keep taking the anti-depressant for up to 6 months. Doing this will help to prevent another flare up of depression in the future. Alcohol and MedicationAlso be careful what drink you use to swallow tablets. For example, if you consume grapefruit juice when taking the contraceptive pill it can reduce the pills effectiveness, so it's best to take medicines with plain water. If you take alcohol with anti-depressant drugs it also can reduce the anti-depressant's benefit.
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