The Efficacy of Using Antidepressants in Treating Depression - Research Paper Example

Health Education on the Benefits of Antidepressants Depression can be defined as a whereby individuals are avoidant of normal day-to-day activities and are in state of low mood. Depression often results to feelings of helplessness, sadness, restlessness, irritability, hopelessness, or anxiety among other negative feelings. Depression has been a common problem afflicting people all over the world. It is estimated that currently, about 19 million Americans are living with depression (Reinberg 23). Individuals who experience depression often show specific characteristics. Initially, they may dissociate from activities that they previously enjoyed. They may also show signs of withdrawal. This may be followed by overeating or loss of appetite, suicidal thoughts, lack of concentration and difficulties in making decisions which previously they could handle with ease. Depression can be treated by use of antidepressants. These drugs are not only effective in treating depression but also a host of other disorders. A study has suggested that antidepressants are effective in curing individuals with severe depression. In the study, 35 clinical trials were conducted to investigate the effectiveness of antidepressants on patients. Some of the antidepressants used in the trial include venlafaxine, nefadozone, fluoxetine and paroxetine (Reinberg 23). This study found that patients who were severely depressed greatly improved on taking the antidepressant drugs. According to the authors, the antidepressants seemed to benefit more those who had severe depression. The study concludes that there is need to try more than one depressant on a patient in order to find out the antidepressant that works best. However, the study emphasizes that treatment of depression using antidepressants is only effective when it is focused on a particular patient, and involving multiple approaches. This approach also requires that follow-ups on patients’ recovery are regularly conducted (Reinberg 24). The study found that once an antidepressant is matched to a patient, then it will work best in curing depression. Current research is aimed at matching antidepressant drugs to patients. This means that patients will soon be receiving antidepressants that will work on them quickly (Reinberg 24). Another study was aimed at evaluating the efficacy of using antidepressants in treating depression among adults, youths and geriatric populations. The participants included 4 geriatric patients, 12 adults and 4 youths on randomized clinical trials (RCTs) (Gibbons et al. 572). These were to be examined using the antidepressant fluoxetine. In addition, 21 adults were examined using venlafaxine. The results of the study showed that patients responded far better compared to placebo controls introduced into the study. Adults recorded an improvement rate of over 35% compared to the placebo controls (Gibbons et al. 573).Youths in the study recorded the highest treatment rates in comparison to the control. This study concluded that antidepressant drugs are effective in treating major depression, contrary to earlier suggestions that they were only effective in treating severe depression. However, the study concluded that antidepressants were more effective in youths and adult patients compared to elder patients. This study was conducted over a 6 weeks period. The study reports that 55.1% of adults treated with fluoxetine showed a positive response (Gibbons et al. 573). In controls, only a paltry 33.7% showed response. In addition to these figures, 45.8% of the patients showed subsidence in the depression levels. However, only 30.2% of the controls showed subsidence in depression levels. The drugs venlafaxine and fluoxetine produced similar results (Gibbons et al. 575).The study shows that antidepressants are effective in treating depression. Critics have raised a number of concerns about the effectiveness of antidepressants over placebos. However, more research continues to back antidepressants in the treatment of depression. According to Kramer, antidepressants do work (15). In the article by Kramer, a group of patients who had stoke were put under different treatments; half of them on Prozac, a type of antidepressant, and the other half on placebo. This study indicates that majority of those who were put under the antidepressant recovered better compared to the other group. They were able to recover mobility (Kramer 16). This study shows that antidepressants have the additional advantage of curbing post-stroke depression. They are also important in protecting memory (Kramer 16). They were found to regulate the health of the brain, while making it flexible. This could be the reason why the patients were able to recover motor function. Antidepressants have outperformed placebos in the treatment of depression in numerous incidences. Antidepressants have also been linked to fewer deaths in elderly female patients with heart complications. Patients who were given antidepressants were less depressed and recuperated quickly. In addition, fewer deaths were recorded. The patients had undergone emergency operations. Those who were not put on antidepressants had a longer stay in hospital, and more deaths were recorded (Kramer 18). The article also suggests that antidepressants improve confidence for those suffering depression or even healthy individuals. Antidepressants have proved beneficial in the treatment of depression and cannot be compared to placebos. A lot of scholarly articles have given emphasis on the benefits of taking antidepressant drugs. In Sharon et al., the article introduces another dimension on the benefits of antidepressants. The study analyzes the effects of maternal anxiety on the auditory sensory gating of infants (Sharon et al. 201). This condition which affects infants whose mothers have prenatal maternal anxiety may potentially harm the child’s normal development. Children born of such mothers often have inhibited neuro-cognitive development and suffer attention disorders (Sharon et al. 201). A total of 242 mothers who showed signs of prenatal maternal anxiety were involved in the study. Special instruments were used to record the infants’ auditory gating during sleep, at a specific mean age. Majority of infants whose mothers had been diagnosed with anxiety disorders had reduced auditory sensory gating. On the other hand, those infants whose mothers had been put on antidepressants showed higher levels of sensory gating (Sharon et al. 207). Antidepressants were therefore considered effective in treating anxiety for pregnant mothers. Women may be unable to cope with depression especially when they are pregnant due to the different range of emotions they go through (Sharon et al. 208). Depression treatment is therefore recommended in pregnant women. The risk of birth defects as a result of pregnant women taking antidepressants has been identified as significantly low. There is a greater risk when pregnant women fail to seek depression treatment; the risk of premature births, defects with the newborn and a host of other problems that may arise (Sharon et al. 215). It is estimated that about 50% of individuals experiencing pain develop depression. Clinically, antidepressants are prescribed to relieve pain, rather than to alter the moods. Studies have shown that antidepressants have an analgesic effect on patients (Khorat and Williams 138). Doses prescribed by doctors to lower pain are usually lower compared to those prescribed in case of depression. The study found that antidepressants worked more rapidly to relieve pain in patients (Khorat and Williams 138). Antidepressant drugs were proved useful in relieving both experimental and acute pain. However, it is important to note that analgesic effect was not related to changes in moods of patients suffering depression (Khorat and Williams 139). The drugs’ mechanism of action involves blockade of neurotransmitters and the central nervous system. Antidepressants particularly tricyclic have been used as a therapy in neuropathic pain (Khorat and Williams 140). Antidepressants have the additional benefit of inducing sleep in patients with sleep deprivation. This study found that in 100 patients with neuropathic pain, about 30% obtain pain relief. 30% develop minor adverse reactions while only a paltry 4 develop major adverse side effects (Khorat and Williams 142). The use of antidepressants is on the rise worldwide. Still, conflicting opinions emerge over the effectiveness of antidepressants in the treatment of depression and other conditions. Numerous researches have been conducted on the benefit of antidepressants. The results indicate that antidepressants are significantly beneficial in treating depression and a host of other conditions such as chronic pain. Antidepressants have been proved effective over placebos. Some studies suggest that there is need to try a number of antidepressants on a patient before identifying the most suitable. Pregnant women can also use antidepressants without developing complications. In summary, antidepressants are beneficial and should continue to be administered. Works Cited Khorat, Farooq, and Williams Peter. “Headache and chronic facial pain.” British Journal of Anaesthesia 8.4 (2008) : 138-142. Print. Kramer, Peter. “In defense of antidepressants.” The New York Times 9 July 2011. Print. Reinberg, Steven. “Only severely depressed benefit from antidepressants.” The Washington post 01 March 2008. Print. Gibbons D. Robbert, et al. “Who benefits from antidepressants? Synthesis of 6-week patient- level outcomes from double-blind placebo controlled randomized trials of fluoxetine and venlafaxine.” The Journal of the American Medical Association 69.6 (2012) : 572- 579. Print. Sharon K. Hunter, et al. “Antidepressants may mitigate the effects of prenatal maternal anxiety on infant auditory sensory gating.” The American Journal of Psychiatry 169.6 (2012) : 201-215. Print.  Read More