What Are Antidepressants? How Do Antidepressants Work?

Antidepressants or Antidepressants pills are a class of drugs that reduce symptoms of depressive disorders by correcting chemical imbalances of neurotransmitters in the brain. Chemical imbalances may be responsible for changes in mood and behavior.

The different classes of antidepressants or Antidepressants Pills include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), norepinephrine (noradrenaline) reuptake inhibitors, atypical antidepressants, tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). Different classes of antidepressants or Antidepressants pills take different amounts of time before you will start to feel their anti-depressant effects.

The most commonly prescribed modern Antidepressants Pills include SSRIs — such as Prozac, Lexapro, Celexa and Paxil — and SNRIs — such as Pristiq, Cumbalta and Effexor. Although the claim is made that some people may be able to start to feel less depressed within 2 weeks of taking one of these kinds of antidepressants, most people won’t start experiencing the full positive effects of the medication until 6 to 8 weeks after beginning it.

How they work?

In general, Antidepressants pills work by inhibiting the reuptake of specific neurotransmitters, hence increasing their levels around the nerves within the brain, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), antidepressants that will affect serotonin levels in the brain.

The nerve cells in our brain use various chemicals to pass on impulses. Even though not all details are known, experts believe that depression is caused by an imbalance of certain chemicals like serotonin which then affects some nerve connections. Antidepressants Pills aim to increase the availability of these chemicals. The various drugs do that in different ways.