DR COSMO HALLSTRÖM is a consultant psychiatrist and fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists who specialises in mood disorders
Barely a week goes by without antidepressants hitting the headlines, and it’s usually negative: we’re taking more than ever, they can affect our sex lives or they might be addictive - just three recent scare stories. But antidepressants are one of the most reliable and safest ways to treat depression.
The five main types of antidepressant are SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), tricyclics,SNRIs (serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors), NASSAs (noradrenaline and specific serotoninergic antidepressants) and MAOIs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors). They work by increasing levels of brain chemicals that regulate mood. But they’re not happy pills; they just restore you to feeling normal when you’re depressed.They don’t ‘numb’ your feelings, like tranquillisers, but help you feel more like you again.