Abstract

JK Shalivahan Reddy49228 and Sarju R Zilate49229*

Depression is a medical illness that alters the way the person feels, behaves, thinks, and acts. It also causes a feeling of sadness and losing interest in things he once enjoyed. It can be caused due to genetic factors, disturbed balance in chemistry of the brain, improper dietary intake, stress, physically unhealthy conditions, post pregnancy, tragedy, accidents and various other reasons. Depression is a serious mental condition which is supposed to be taken care of like any other health related problems. It can look like instances of mere mood swings and fluctuations in mood and can be as serious as other major depressive disorders associated with suicidal thoughts in most of the cases. Most of the time, people are unable to understand the importance of mental health. This kind of ignorance might lead to some serious issues and disorders which can further deteriorate the condition of the patients. There are various types of depressive disorders, they can be classified as: Bipolar depression, postpartum depression, atypical depression etc. Some professional help in these kinds of situations can do wonders. Depression can be treated with a set of drugs which act on the brain, and helps by balancing chemicals called neurotransmitters that further affect our emotions and mood. These medicines helps in getting better sleep, helps in improving mood, increases concentration and appetite. We call these set of drugs as ‘antidepressants’. There are various groups of Anti-depressants used in treating depression and vary in their mechanism of action they are: MAO-A (Monoamine Oxidase A) inhibitors which act reversibly (RIMAs), Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), Non typical anti-depressants, Tricyclic Anti-depressants (TCAs), Serotonin and Noradrenaline Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs). No anti- depressant is free from side effects. SSRIs raise the level of the neurotransmitter serotonin extracellularly by restricting its reuptake into the presynaptic cell.