“They Don’t Help” & Other Myths About Antidepressants

For persons diagnosed with clinical depression, antidepressants are essential aids for achieving and maintaining wellness. And yet, they remain among the most misunderstood forms of medication. Our retail pharmacy in Gastonia, North Carolina regularly encourages our customers not to trust hearsay, pop psychology, or unbacked claims about them.

As such, we at You 1st Pharmacy have taken it upon ourselves to play our part in debunking common myths about antidepressants as your source of pharmaceutical services in Gastonia, North Carolina and beyond. Here are some of them:

• They do not really help.
  This line of thinking goes together with notions that mental issues are not “real.” But research has long proven that depression is an actual condition that affects the brain’s chemical balance and that addressing that imbalance through medication works. Without treatment, depression can lead to living problems, substance abuse, and suicide ideation, which are very much real.
• They do not work for everyone.
  Individual factors like dosage and genetics affect the efficacy of antidepressants. Fortunately, studies suggest they tend to work for a large majority. According to InformedHealth.org, 40 to 60% of patients see an improvement in depression symptoms within six to eight weeks of taking them. Medication therapy management can easily help you find medications that work for you.
• They have serious side effects.
  Weight gain, reduced libido, difficulty sleeping, and nausea are side effects to be considered. However, most of these can be addressed quickly by adjusting dosage or switching prescriptions. Much like the previous point, it is a matter of finding a treatment that works for you. This is something in which our neighborhood pharmacy can help.

Antidepressants can be a lifeline for many, and we should treat them as such. For more information, call our pharmacy in North Carolina today.