Many people are taking antidepressants to treat major depression or one of the many other conditions (i.e. anxiety, PTSD, OCD) for which they are prescribed. Antidepressants are clinically effective based on scientific research, which is why they are accepted as being first-line treatment options for depression. For certain people, taking antidepressants have improved their life …
What would you think if the classification of your psychiatric medications changed? Well, a new conference is taking place to address whether drug classification “names” should be changed. Currently, many psychiatric organizations believe there are advantages associated with changing from a “symptom-based” classification to a “pharmacological-based” classification system. This new system will be discussed at …
Many people who face depression don’t know what they can do to address their depressive symptoms. In fact, some people don’t even know that treatments for their depressive feelings exist. When I experienced my first episode of deep depression, I was totally unaware of what could be done to help eliminate this unwelcome feeling. At …
A newly released report from research firm IMS Health collected data on the most prescribed drugs in the United States from June 2013 to July 2014. Although the number one drug was Synthroid, a thyroid medication with over 22 million prescriptions, rounding out the top ten most prescribed were Cymbalta (#8), Vyvanse (#9), and Lyrica …
One of the most challenging things for the mentally ill these days is to find a competent psychiatrist. As someone who has struggled in the past with a few bad psychiatrists, I have a few things that I want to discuss. Although you aren’t going to know whether a psychiatrist is good until you go …
Do antidepressants take 6 to 8 weeks to kick in? In the case of many people, yes. However, for other people that notice a major effect immediately upon taking the medication, it may come as a surprise that the drug is already working when their doctor or psychiatrist told them it would take awhile. Although …
One counterintuitive treatment that has emerged in recent years for social anxiety disorders is that of the medication Adderall. The reason that this is a counterintuitive treatment option is due to the fact that most anxiety disorders are thought to be a result of overstimulation. Since many individuals with anxiety are overstimulated, treatment with a …