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The Efficacy Dilemma Of Antidepressants - Depression

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The Efficacy Dilemma of Antidepressants – Depression, Essay Group 6
Depression being an affective mood disorder is a serious global public health issue with over 350 million sufferers worldwide8,10,11. Although it is described with feelings of low mood, inadequacy, guilt, low self-worth, loss of motivation, interest, pleasure and concentration; it is also associated with a functional deficit of the monoamine transmitters (serotonin and noradrenaline) in certain brain regions such as amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex6,10. It can also induce biological symptoms like retardation of thought and action as well as sleep disturbances, loss of appetite and libido and if left untreated, it can eventually lead to disability8,11. Therefore, the pharmacotherapy plays a crucial role in the treatment of depression.
A study that had been done in the out-patient department of Psychiatry in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Eastern India focused on the prescribing patterns of antidepressants as well as their efficacy evaluation in depressed patients8. The types of medication used for the study were Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs), Serotonin Norepinephrine/Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitors and Norepinephrine Dopamine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs and NDRIs) which all belong to a class called monoamine uptake inhibitors. In the study, a total number of 160 people were included regardless of their age, sex, physical and mental

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