Myth: Antidepressants are all the same. When you tried one, the others won’t work either.
You brain is full of neurons with tiny holes between them called synapses. Neurons communicate by sending chemical messages, called neurotransmitters across the synapses. AD seem to increase the availability of certain neurotransmitters to ease the symptoms of depression but they do this in different ways. And that is the catch! Let’s see what it’s all about.
What kind of AD do we know today?
Reuptake inhibitors prevent the excess of neurotransmitters to be absorbed back into the neuron. They can stay in the synapse longer. The cleaning process happens a bit more relaxed and they have more possibility to work.
The most well-known are SSRI’S or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. They prevent the reuptake of serotonin. Examples are Zoloft and Prozac or Seroquel. There are other reuptake inhibitors, SNRI’S which prevent the reuptake of serotonin and the neurotransmitter norepinephrine. Another category of AD are the tricyclics, which do the same as SSRI’s and SNRI’s but slightly different.
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors; they prevent the neurotransmitters in the synaps from being broken down.
Doctors and patients today have a variety of medications disposable to figure out what is the most fitted one to use in a particular situation.
If you want to know more about neurotransmitters, I’ve written a post about it here.
What can the future hold for antidepressants?
Working with biomarkers* is being researched and could be an enormous step for treatment of depression. Now we can link a marker to the response of a patient. When your iron is low, doctors can see that in your blood. They prescribe pills or injections in response of the situation. They expect the treatment to work and to see those results back in your blood. If research can find a marker for depression, maybe for a specific kind of depression, they could prescribe more adjusted medication for your depression and the expectancy of the treatment would be measurable. We are not there yet more knowledge is needed to make that kind of progress but it is not impossible.
Regions of the brain seem to change due to psychotherapy. As a result of cognitive behavioral therapy they measured an increased activity in the prefrontal cortex and decreased activity in other regions. Patients reported decreased symptoms of depression. Those results are not validated yet, so more study needs to be done. If findings are confirmed a doctor could predict your benefits from a certain therapy in function of your brain. Less disappointments could be your share.
Remember I wrote about genes as a possible factor in the onset of depression? If you like, you can read about that here. The GUIDED or Genomics Used to Improve DEpression Decisions study (2019) split over a 1000 patients with depression into two groups. In group 1 doctors paired the treatment of AD to a genetic test that was available. In group 2 the information about genes was not given and doctors prescribed AD the old fashion way, the method I know. In the genetic testing group both patients’ response to treatment and the number of people who experienced remission of their depression symptoms were significantly higher than in group 2.
In the half of the study people were allowed to switch group. They could go from group 2 to group 1 if they wanted. They reported better rates of symptom improvement, treatment response and remission after the switch.
If you are intrigued by the study and the outcomes, you can read it all here ‘Impact of pharmacogenomics on clinical outcomes in major depressive disorder in the GUIDED-trial: A large, patient-, and raterblinded, randomized and controlled study (2019)’.
Knowledge of genes can help doctors to treat depression better and of course people with depression can benefit from it. A lot of research is still needed but there is also a lot to be hopeful for. I hope I’ve been able to debunk the myth which started this post – no, don’t go looking for it, forget it –and focus on the future.
When you’re suffering with mental illness, please speak to a certified health professional in the field of psychiatry or psychology. Due to the internet there is a lot of information available but sometimes people who are not qualified to do so, draw conclusions that are just not right. Being right or wrong isn’t even the case here, your health needs to come first. Take care of your mental health and place it in the hands of people you really can trust. Depression can be treated, it can get better there is just not that one miracle cure. Value yourself high enough to get the treatment that is right for you.
Resources.
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4172306/
[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022395618310069?via%3Dihub
* Biomarkers= can be measured in a lab and contains information about the illness. Think about bloodwork.
Makes sense I think, even somebody like me can understand!
One thing that strikes me is that the research is all so *current*. With stroke, I was very frustrated at the number of times I heard “we don’t know”. I guess it all goes to show how little we do actually know.
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Ha, I have the opposite thought, my bias is that we do know a lot more about physical illness than about mental illness. I guess when you’re willing to search for recent developments you can find some hope. I always ask all my questions when I visit the psychiatrist but he’s very avoidant in his answers. He prescribes very ‘old’ medication, because that would be the most secure I think. I just find it hopeful that there are people who keep on researching and that not everybody puts their faith in woo woo ‘doctors’ and things like ‘I’ve once heard that …’
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I suspect you are right between physical and mental. Actually your description reminded me a lot of blood pressure, where there are hundreds of meds which work in maybe six different ways. And they can combine etc. After the stroke I too discovered that I had been on very old BP meds which were all changed by the hospital. I suspect their knowledge is more current than my GP!
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Yes piling up medication is sometimes not so good but sometimes doctors like to stick with that what works. I managed to ‘fight’ off a 4th medication but now I need to try some remedies myself. The open conversation between patient and doctor is a very important one.
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I kinda figure that 1 was the important number. Soon as I had to take one every day, it didn’t matter if I had to take 10!
But fortunately, none of mine intertwine. I hear horror stories of somebody taking a pill for that, then having to take several more pills to counteract the side-effects of the first.
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True!
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My guess is that inflammation is going to be increasingly recognized as a target for treating depression.
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Yes I need to read more into that one. I seem to understand it a bit and then it flies away from the brain. But the curiosity is ready to stay. Maybe I’ll write a post about that one day. Do have a post about it (then I can definitely understand it)? 🙂
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Huh, for some reason I thought I had, but it turns out that I have not.
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What a surprise 🙂 It’s not fun for you at all but your reaction is too funny 😂
I think I found it, is it this one? https://mentalhealthathome.org/2019/01/02/book-review-the-inflamed-mind/
🧐
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😁
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Great post! The fibromyalgia clinic I go to recently did a DNA test to see how I metabolize medications. There are a few they want to try for my pain and fatigue and think the test will help with some of the guess work. It’s all so fascinating!
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It is and yet so very smart of humans, they don’t do all bad things. I hope the tests can help them to help you. Good luck and fingers crossed! 🤞
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Thank you 🙂 Yes, there is still good in this world outside of wordpress lol 😉
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😀
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What a smart idea in that GUIDED study, letting participants switch groups after a point! That helps to demonstrate that the significant difference is definitely in the treatment method and not because somehow all the people with hard-to-cure depression got sorted into one group. Statistically unlikely, I know, but it’s helpful to block that suspicion if possible. I’m all for medication that’s more tailored to individuals rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
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I thought it was just such a cool and hopeful study. I think they need to let people switch because to refuse someone treatment would be unethical and just not nice. It backs the study up. I really hope that further research is possible and I also know that it will take a while, at least there seems to be some hope. The more fitted to the individual, the more likely it is going to work. I believe that is the road we need to take.
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