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Norah Hastings

Dr. Cassel

4-12-18

Effects of antidepressants

Are there other ways to help a person suffering from depression without using antidepressants? My

depression had taken control over my life and made schooling a lot harder. When I got diagnosed with

depression I was given antidepressants that I needed to take once a day before bed. I needed to take

them at the same time and somehow hope that they worked. I was very wary the first time I took them,

my mother had told me previous things that had happened to her when she started a new

antidepressant. I was told I might become a zombie, or I would just feel no emotion anymore. It scared

me but at the same time intrigued me. The first time I took my pills it felt like I was in a bubble and each

different emotion had a little room that sat around my heart. I remember feeling angry, but I had no

recollection of what I was angry at, just my chest was warm, and my breathing increased. It then turned

into manic laughter, I know generally I am a giggly person but combining that with a little bit of anger

makes it a little scary. About ten minutes later I was sitting in my mother’s room with tear filled eyes.

That was my only weird reaction to taking the anti-depressants even when I doubled my dose.

Taking depression pills never really helped me, they became more of a hassle to remember than

anything. I also started to feel dependent on them. Whenever I didn’t take it my mood would

immediately sink. I started having a placebo effect with the pills it wasn’t really helping me, but the

thought that it could is what improved my mood. I am now off pills and am trying to find better ways to

help myself and others without using the medication. Pills have side effects that can sometimes harm

the user more than helping them. Many people take antidepressants to help their depression symptoms

every day.
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Fifteen and a half million American’s are on some type of antidepressants. Although, that is helpful in

some cases many people find alternative solutions are more helpful. Knowledge of those alternative

solutions can help save lives.

Depression is where a person is sad and irritable for a long period of time. Depression can cause people

to become closed off from the world around them and feel like they are alone. Many time depressed

people will refuse to do anything but sit in the same spot and do nothing, this is very detrimental to a

person’s health especially when negative thoughts such as suicide run through their mind. Depression is

found in many ages and effects everyone differently. Anxiety and depression go hand in hand, most

people with general anxiety disorder also have a depressive disorder. Most people don’t realize they

have depression and can be found to late, which results in bad endings. Ways to identify depression are

symptoms that can be looked out for to identify if someone may have depression are irritability over

small things, anxiety, loss of interest in previous hobbies, fixation on the past and thoughts of suicide.

Physical symptoms include insomnia or sleeping a lot, fatigue, increased or decreased appetite, weight

gain or loss, difficulty concentrating and unexplained aches and pains. Looking for these symptoms could

help catch depression early on and get them the psychiatry help they need.

Antidepressants take up to thirty days to start working, some people need help quicker than that. In

between those thirty days a person suffering from depression can end up causing harm to themselves

and to others. Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death in the United States. A good amount of those

are people from ages fifth teen to twenty-four. It is also one of the leading causes of death in children

ages ten to fourteen. Why do people ignore depression or not understand the effects it can cause?

Suicide is most common when someone is under immense stress and the risk is even higher for

someone suffering from depression. Over thirty thousand people in the United States commit suicide

each year. Men are more often to commit suicide over women although, women attempt suicide more
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than men. In most cases people who kill themselves happen to be college students, lawyers or other

professionals. It is also common if someone just got divorced, their mind could be in the wrong place,

making the person end their life.

As sad as suicide is, there is an alarming amount of high school students have considered suicide. There

was a survey done in the U.S center of disease control where they surveyed high school students and

found out that thirty four percent of girls and twenty one percent of boys thought about suicide. These

statistics and facts show that a lot can happen in those thirty days when a person is waiting for their

medication to kick in. Without keeping up with a therapist or a doctor suicide can happen when least

expected. (Tucker-Ladd, n.d.)

Suicide is a leading cause of death 1

Studies have shown that taking anti-depressants can have negative side effects. A study was done on

adult mice where they would put fluoxetine which is related to antidepressants and watched what

happened. What the researchers noticed is over time the fluoxetine managed to alter some of the gene

pairs which are associated with repression and dopaminergic synapse signals. Those can cause damage
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to hippocampal function after being in contact with the fluoxetine. In taking the medication it is shown

to negatively effect a person’s mind by targeting gene expressions and can be used inappropriately and

put someone at risk. (Nan, 2018)

Another study done by researchers in Phillips- University Marburg separated participants into two

groups randomly to see the side effects of antidepressants on humans. Out of the thirty-nine

participants nineteen were given amitriptyline while the other twenty were given a placebo. They were

told to take the pill for four nights with a drink then after the fourth night all participants were given a

placebo. What the researchers noticed was those that had taken the amitriptyline experienced negative

side effects such as dry mouth, dizziness, cardiovascular problems and fatigue. The control group didn’t

experience side effects. That shows that the withdrawal from the medication can also have risks that

can end up making a person dependent on the drug. (Rheker, 2017)

In an article written by Linda Turner, MD she discusses the different class types of antidepressants,

Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCA), Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOI), Selective Serotonin Reuptake

Inhibitors (SSRI), Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRI) and Atypical or “Novel”

Antidepressants. Each one of the classes has pros and cons.

TCA’s have the tendency to cause weight gain and can be very sedating. TCA’s are also very toxic which

could cause an overdose if not correctly used. Even though, this medication is used to help people sleep

it could cause them to be to lethargic which can interfere in their daily life. TCA’s are also prescribed to

get rid of migraine pains.

Although, MAOI’s don’t have the same cons as TCA’s they have bad effects. MAOI’s are very hard to take

with any other medication because it negatively interacts with most. For people to take this medication

they would have to change their lifestyle greatly. No cheeses or wines can be eaten or drank while on
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MAOI’s for the effects could be dangerous. MAOI’s are given to those who have atypical depression.

Atypical depression is where the specific depression symptoms vary and are different.

Unlike MAOI’s, SSRI’s are medication that is used to treat anxiety disorders. Side effects that can happen

with this medication is dry mouth, upset stomach, weight gain or loss and sexual side effects. This one

has less side effects than that of other medications.

Although SSRI’s don’t have that many cons, SNRI’s have a dangerous one. SNRI’s can cause blood

pressure to heighten making it difficult to those who already have trouble with blood pressure. Taking

this medication could be life endangering for some if not taken correctly or taken without knowing side

effects. SNRI’s are prescribed to help migraines. This is the newest class of medication so far, meaning

there is more research on it that needs to be done.

Atypical Antidepressants can make people with high anxiety and irritability symptoms worse. People

who have eating disorders or seizure disorders cannot take this medication because it will worsen their

current state. This medication is only used to help those with low energy and no concentration. These

negative side effects could really affect a person badly, even if their concentration gets better their

anxiety could get worse. (Turner, 2016)

A study was done on MDD, major depressive disorder, and its cognitive impairments due to SSRI’s. In

the study there were three groups that were monitored, one being a healthy group, one being a

medicated group with MDD and the last group was one with people with MDD but not medicated. All

three were given a test which resolved in getting either positive or negative feedback. As each group

were administered the test and observed the researchers started to notice things. The healthy control

group learned better on positive feedback than the other groups with MDD. The medicated group

learned significantly less than the other two groups when given negative feedback. The control group

and non-medicated group’s learning from negative feedback was comparable. These results proved
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their theory that with people suffering from MDD would have negative feedback be more impactful

psychologically than positive feedback. That stating that the reaction to negative feedback or any

negative thing is greater, and cause inflict more damage on those with MDD. It shows that people taking

SSRI’s ability to learn from negative experiences is impaired while taking the medication. (Mohammad,

2013)

Although, antidepressants have helped people with depression there are other aspects and alternatives

that have a bigger impact. As shown throughout the paper the effects of antidepressants are very

negative and they only work for a small percentage of depressed people. Most of the time people are

not in need of antidepressants and need to seek a therapist rather than take medication.

Even with all these positive effects that each class of medicine has the negative effects could be far

worse for the person taking the medication. Most of the time doctors who don’t think twice or don’t

have a lot of training over certain medication can prescribe the wrong medication and end up harming

the patients as well.

In an article written by Johnathan Rottenburg he states that only twenty percent of antidepressant

prescriptions are written by psychiatrist. Most of prescriptions are written by professionals with little

training in the mental health field. That could also mean misdiagnosis for many people. Rottenburg also

points out that only one in six people who are prescribed antidepressants have depression. Many people

are diagnosed by a doctor and not a psychiatrist and are getting prescribed medicines that can mess

with their system when they didn’t need them to begin with.

Even though there is evidence that antidepressants help people more than placebo pills it is also shown

that they barely help those with moderate depression. There is very little increase for those who only

have moderate depression meaning that the pills alone won’t be enough to get them the help they

needed. (Rottenburg, n.d.)

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In some cases, antidepressants are good to use but, in most cases, it is better to use alternative ways to

help loved ones with depression. One of the best things to do for a person suffering from depression is

to just be there and listen. Depressed people sometimes feel like they don’t have anyone and being

there to listen to their problems could help them hold on for a bit longer. Depressed people don’t

generally like going outside of their little bubble at home. That can be harmful for them to be trapped

up inside and letting their negative thoughts swim around their mind. A good thing to do is try and get

the person up and moving but don’t be to pushy for it. Pushing a depressed person to do something can

sometimes do the opposite of what was intended. Instead, just try and bring it up as often as possible

and try to make it sound interesting, it will let them know that you are trying to help. (Herndon, n.d.)

Besides going to therapy other ways to help depression include practicing self-help. As much as having a

supporting person alongside them a depressed person needs to make the choice to help themselves by

practicing self-help. Self-help includes getting an adequate amount of sleep which can be hard for most

people. Sleeping properly helps heal the mind and body that is why it is important to get a good night’s

rest, so each day is started with high energy. Getting a proper meal or a healthy diet is also very

important in self-helping, it helps get the essential vitamins and minerals needed in the body. Getting

the proper amount will also increase energy and make you feel better. Exercising is also an important

part. Exercising gets the heart pumping and release dopamine into the brain which makes a person

happy. (Herndon, n.d.)

Luckily for me, I was able to stop taking depression pills before the negative side effects affected my

daily life. After all the research it is clear to see all the dangers of taking antidepressants. Knowing that

there are alternative ways to help a person is can affect people in a positive way. I now feel better to

help myself along with friends and family members who also suffer.
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Work Cited
“Psych Central - The Use of Antidepressants.” Psych Central.com,
psychcentral.com/library/antidepressants.html.
Brody, Jane E. “When Anxiety or Depression Masks a Medical Problem.” The New York Times, The
New York Times, 26 June 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/06/26/well/live/when-anxiety-or-
depression-mask-a-medical-problem.html
Herndon, Jaime R. “Can You Cure Depression? How to Manage Symptoms.” Healthline, Healthline
Media, www.healthline.com/health/can-you-cure-depression#2.
Hendrix, Sheridan. “Suicide Rates Rise Steadily among Young People, Stigma Remains Largely
Unaddressed.” The Lantern, www.thelantern.com/2017/11/suicide-rates-rise-steadily-among-
young-people-stigma-remains-largely-unaddressed/.

Mohammad M., Herzallah, et al. "Learning from Negative Feedback in Patients with Major Depressive
Disorder Is Attenuated by SSRI Antidepressants." Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, Vol 7
(2013), 2013. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3389/fnint.2013.00067/full.

Nan, Miao, et al. "Hippocampal Micrornas Respond to Administration of Antidepressant Fluoxetine in

Adult Mice." International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol. 19, no. 3, Mar. 2018, pp. 1-15.
EBSCOhost, doi:10.3390/ijms19030671.
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Rheker, Julia, et al. "Learning to Experience Side Effects After Antidepressant Intake - Results from a
Randomized, Controlled, Double-Blind Study." Psychopharmacology, vol. 234, no. 3, Feb. 2017,
pp. 329-338. EBSCOhost,
sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&
AN=120642968&site=eds-live.
Rottenburg, Johnathan. “10 Troubling Facts About Antidepressants.” Psychology Today, Sussex
Publishers, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/charting-the-depths/201404/10-troubling-
facts-about-antidepressants.
Tucker-Ladd, Clay. “Chapter 6: Happiness, Depression and Self-Concept - Page 64 of 179.”
Psychological Self-Help, www.psychologicalselfhelp.org/Chapter6/chap6_64.html.
Turner, Lida. “All About Antidepressants.” Take This, 15 Dec. 2016, www.takethis.org/all-about-
antidepressants/.