Antidepressant drugs, first developed in the late 1950s, are briefly used to regulate hormones in the brain. In other words, antidepressants are used to change the disturbed balance and to restore the normal functioning of the brain.
It is used in many psychiatric diseases such as depression, anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobias, and obsessive compulsive disorder, as well as in the treatment of somatic symptoms, fibromyalgia and migraine. The most important thing to note here is that you should not be your own doctor. Antidepressant drugs prescribed to your neighbor, friend or family member should be started by consulting the relevant doctor. The treatment of each individual should be arranged individually. For the same reason, it should not be forgotten that only drug information obtained from social media and drug use can have dangerous consequences.
WHAT ARE THE SIDE EFFECTS?
Antidepressants, like other drugs, can have side effects. The most common side effects of antidepressant drugs are; increased appetite or loss of appetite, nausea, drowsiness/insomnia, drowsiness, libido, constipation and diarrhea.
Psychiatry is a branch of medicine based on cooperation, in which the patient-physician relationship is the strongest. For this reason, it is recommended that the patient is informed about the possible side effects and the onset of the effect when starting the drug, and that he should consult his doctor again in case of side effects.
HOW LONG DOES THE TREATMENT TAKE?
The duration of treatment is determined individually for the patient. It is regulated according to markers such as the severity of the disease, previous treatment attempts, and whether there is treatment resistance. If every antidepressant is not good for every patient, sometimes it will reduce the motivation of the treatment in patients, but if they experience side effects or do not benefit, it will take some time to change the drug. Again, it should be taken into account that the duration of the effect of these drugs is 15-20 days on average. When the treatment is started with the use of antidepressants, it is recommended to follow up with monthly controls for at least 6 months. Just like the start of the drug, the termination should be done gradually, in cooperation with your doctor, after the well-being is achieved, and the possibility of recurrence should be minimized.
WRONG KNOWN TRUES
- Antidepressants are not addictive.
- It does not harm your organs.
- It does not have drug properties. It does not make patients robotic and insensitive.
- They’re not “high-heavy pills.”
- It doesn’t change people’s personalities.
- People using these drugs are not dangerous.
- It’s not drugs that cure problems, it’s therapeutic drugs.
- Taking antidepressants does not mean that you are weak, incompetent or mentally ill.
Our mental health is just as important as our physical health. Just as we do not treat blood pressure disease ourselves, we should definitely seek treatment by consulting our doctor in psychiatric diseases such as depression. In fact, perhaps the most frightening aspect of psychiatric drugs, which many people sometimes find frightening, is that they are used incorrectly or irregularly and sometimes not used even when necessary.