Antidepressant

An antidepressant is a medication used to treat depressive disorders and sometimes anxiety, pain, and other conditions. Drug classes differ in their targets, effects, and risks.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor: A drug class that inhibits serotonin reuptake and is widely used to treat depression and anxiety disorders. SSRIs are commonly prescribed antidepressants and illustrate one prominent approach to altering neurotransmission.
Major depressive disorder: A mood disorder marked by persistent depressed mood or loss of interest, alongside other symptoms that impair functioning. Treating major depressive disorder is a central reason antidepressants are prescribed.
Psychotherapy: The treatment of psychological difficulties through structured conversations and therapeutic techniques. Psychotherapy can treat depression without medication and is often combined with antidepressants.
Antidepressant efficacy: The capacity of antidepressant treatment to reduce depressive symptoms, measured in clinical studies and practice. Average efficacy informs treatment decisions, but outcomes vary across individuals and comparisons.
Iproniazid: A monoamine oxidase inhibitor first developed for tuberculosis and later found to have mood-elevating effects. Iproniazid was among the chance discoveries that launched modern antidepressant drug treatment.
Serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor: A drug class that inhibits serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake, used for depression and several pain conditions. SNRIs add norepinephrine effects to serotonin reuptake inhibition, sometimes benefiting pain as well as mood.
Generalized anxiety disorder: An anxiety disorder involving excessive, difficult-to-control worry across multiple areas of life. Some antidepressants are established treatments for generalized anxiety disorder as well as depression.
Cognitive behavioral therapy: A structured psychotherapy that examines links among thoughts, feelings, and behavior and practices changes to these patterns. CBT is a well-studied non-drug treatment that can be used instead of or alongside antidepressants.
Antidepressant side effect: An unwanted effect caused by or associated with antidepressant treatment. Side effects differ across medications and can affect whether treatment is acceptable or continued.
Imipramine: A tricyclic antidepressant first developed in the 1950s and used to treat depression and other conditions. Imipramine helped establish tricyclic drugs as a major early antidepressant class.

Linked from 20 pages