Antidepressants

When it comes to being happy, the answer always seems to be subjective. Go play your favorite sport, go listen to music, no wait, go talk with your friends. There has never been anything definite, until recently. Doctors have developed antidepressants, a scientific way to simply make unhappy people happy. There are various types of antidepressants, and each one mainly does the same thing - raise the level of chemical that makes people happy.

= __**Serotonin**__ = = = The chemical that plays such an important part in happiness is called serotonin; it is mainly in our digestive tracts and blood platelets, yet produced in the brain. Serotonin affects brain cells, of which help regulate mood, temperature regulation, memory, sexual desire, sleep, and some others. The affect serotonin has on depression is very simple - if someone has depression, then their brain doesn't process enough serotonin. This is why in antidepressants, the main function in all of the different types is to allow more serotonin to get through to the blood platelets. 1 = __**Do They Work?**__ = = = A significant debate in science is about antidepressants: do they really work? Some say it's a myth, there's no possible way these things work; others believe wholeheartedly that they do in fact work. Published in the American Journal of Psychiatry is an article directly related to this debate. The article describes an experiment done by five extremely qualified researchers on twenty four healthy subjects. After receiving a single dose of nonadrenergic roboxetine (antidepressant) or placebo (sugar pill, does nothing), researchers tested the subjects on their emotional categorization, facial expression recognition, and emotional memory. They found that those on reboxetine had tendencies towards positive emotions even though nothing had changed except the single dose of nonadrenergic roboxetine. Therefore, the five qualified researchers found and published in the American Journal of Psychiatry the fact that antidepressants really do work. 2 =__**The Different Types**__= = = Of all the different kinds of antidepressants, there are four main types. They are SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, and tryciclics. 3 SSRIs are Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, which makes sure that serotonin is not absorbed and therefore processed. 4 Examples of commonly known SSRIs are Celexa, Prozac, and Zoloft. 3 SNRIs are Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors, and they help the brain make more serotonin. 4 Cymbalta and Pristiq are commonly seen SNRIs. 3 MAOIs are Monomaine Oxidase Inhibitors. They balance certain neurotransmitters to make people less anxious, and they aren't as well known as the SSRIs or SNRIs. Tryciclics are first-generation kinds of antidepressants, they simply balance the proper neurotransmitters to make people less depressed. Since they aren't as advanced as this generation antidepressants, they aren't as common as SSRIs or SNRIs. Still, the basic function of all antidepressants is the same; serotonin levels are in some way raised in the brain. 4

1. Seritonin and Depression: 9 Questions and Answers 2. Toward a Neuropsychological Theory of Antidepressant Drug Action: Increase in Positive Emotional Bias After Potentiation of Norepinephrine Activity 3. List of Antidepressants 4. WebMD 5. Different Ways to Get High 6. Beat the Blues (without drugs)