Abstract

ANTI-DEPRESSANT: A REVIEW ARTICLE

Pushkar Singh*

ABSTRACT

Depression is a common mental disorder and a major cause of disability. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by 2020, it will be the second-highest known cause of worldwide disability. Depression is characterized by a sad mood, pessimistic thought, lowered interest in day-to-day activities, poor concentration, insomnia or increased sleep, significant weight loss or gain, decreased energy, continuous feelings of guilt and worthlessness, decreased vlibido, and suicidal thoughts occurring for at least two weeks. The use of antidepressants has increased within the last two decades. Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most disabling mental illnesses and has significant morbidity and mortality. The lifetime
prevalence of MDD ranges from 2 to 21% worldwide. The main sociodemographic correlates were divorced marital status and female gender. Over the years many classes of antidepressants have become available in India, some of which have stood the test of time and are still in use and some, which are no more marketed or are no more a favorite of clinicians. The research focusing the usefulness of antidepressants in India has more or less followed the trends in the west; however, some of the antidepressant drugs which have been marketed have not been evaluated as thoroughly as others. Most of the studies done in India have evaluated various antidepressants in depression. There are very few studies which have evaluated antidepressants in conditions other than depressive disorders. In this article, we review studies done in India on various antidepressants. The review shall focus on the research published in Indian Journal of Psychiatry and studies reported in PubMed indexed journals on efficacy, effectiveness, usefulness and tolerability issues of antidepressants in human subjects.

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