Posts Tagged ‘depression medication’

Finding the Right Depression Medication

Thursday, December 4th, 2008

Depression

Prolonged feelings of sadness can be an indication of depression but the best thing you can do if you ever experience these feelings is to see a medical professional to have your condition professionally diagnosed. Depression medication can now be used in conjunction other depression treatments and are very successful for many people who have this condition. Unlike many years ago when little was really understood about the subject; today depression can actually be cured although the treatment is often expensive although it does rely on an early assessment of the condition. It is now understood that cognitive behavioral and interpersonal therapy can be very successful at helping sufferers of depression as they actually attack the root of the problem.

Patients suffering with depression can benefit from short-term therapy and positive results are quite normal in less than five months. Before anything else is done it is necessary to have tests run by a specialist in depression so that it is made clear exactly the type of treatment is required. Being prescribed the most suitable therapy and depression medication is necessary owing the different types of depression and the various ways to deal with them. There is actually a surprisingly wide variety of medications available to help treat those who are suffering from depressive disorders.

The tricyclics are not as popular as the newer serotonin re-uptake inhibitors or the monoamine oxidase inhibitors. Side effects are the real problem and can be worse than the condition they are treating this is why the tricyclics are not used as much today. Strangely, despite these side effects, the doctor may believe the patient will be better off taking a mixture of these drugs to help the condition. So the patient may find themselves on more than one type of medication to help alleviate the depression.

Despite the advances, it is still not an exact science and often the dosage may be increased or even lowered to suit the individual’s needs. While it may be normal and expected for doctors to try this mix and matching, the patients are warned against playing with their depression medication dosages. A warning to all depression sufferers though is to not confuse anti-anxiety or sedative medication as a treatment. Even though these anti-anxiety drugs are often prescribed, they don’t actually help cure someone’s depression illness.

The depression sufferer will usually take these to help keep them calm during treatment which means that the other prescribed depression medication must still be taken. Many people prescribed with tricyclic medication will experience some of the more common side-effects. Strangely, quite a few users do not appear to mind the side effects for the tricyclic variety and function normally while using them. In these circumstances it’s best to go to your doctor and report the side-effects immediately.