You and your best friend may both be seniors who have found through one of the depression screenings that you are at risk for suffering from depressions. Who knows, you may have even gone to the doctor together to get diagnosed and while you both were diagnosed with a cause of depression, you and your friend were prescribed different medications . What gives?
One size does not fit all when treating elderly depression with antidepressants and physicians understand that depending on your age, medical history, overall health, and also severity of symptoms you may or may not need one kind of medication over another. Additionally, some medications will interact negatively with others and your prescribing physician will be careful to not have drugs adversely interacting with one another.
Keep in mind that antidepressants do not cure depression! Instead, they will help you to manage your symptoms to such an extent that you can once again engage in the daily battle of dealing with life and also pursuing your health.
In many cases it is the psychotherapy â or talking therapy â that will help you understand what is making you depressed and then finds ways to deal with these difficulties and overcome them. In addition to the foregoing, you will find that not all antidepressants work the same but some are serotonin reuptake inhibitors while others are monoamine oxidase inhibitors. Several other kinds are also on the market and only a trained psychiatrist will be able to evaluate you and decide which kind will have the best likelihood of working well with the least amounts of side effects.
Antidepressants will alter the chemical balance of your brain, and your doctor is likely to start you out on a low dose to make sure respond well. In the same vein, she or he may ask you to closely monitor your ability to concentrate and sleep, and to also report any adverse effects, such as nervousness, anxiety, trembling of the extremities, and dry mouth. Likewise, your doctor will also want you to monitor your depression symptoms and report whether they change in severity or even disappear, with the latter of course being the most desirable outcome.
Even if you and your friend are both suffering from depression but taking different medications, you will be wise to not simply stop the medication when your friend does, but instead follow the path charted by your doctor. She or he may have you take the drug for some time just to make sure you are responding well, or may have you stop before your friend will be able to do so.
However, no matter which kind of antidepressant you may have been prescribed, there is no substitute for talking therapy and following the advise of your physician with respect to healthy eating habits, exercise, and also ceasing unhealthy activities, such as smoking or withdrawing from friends and family. Even if you do not believe that your smoking will have any bearing on your depression, it will be wise to heed your doctor ‘s advice and give up the difficult habit in the hopes of improving your overall health and outlook on life.
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