Do ssri work

Overview - SSRI antidepressants - NHS

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are a widely used type of antidepressant.

They're mainly prescribed to treat depression, particularly persistent or severe cases, and are often used in combination with a talking therapy such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

SSRIs are usually the first choice medicine for depression because they generally have fewer side effects than most other types of antidepressant.

As well as depression, SSRIs can be used to treat a number of other mental health conditions, including:

generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)
obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
panic disorder
severe phobias, such as agoraphobia and social phobia
bulimia
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

SSRIs can sometimes be used to treat other conditions, such as premenstrual syndrome (PMS), fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Occasionally, they may also be prescribed to treat pain.

How SSRIs work

It's thought that SSRIs work by increasing serotonin levels in the brain.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter (a messenger chemical that carries signals between nerve cells in the brain). It's thought to have a good influence on mood, emotion and sleep.

After carrying a message, serotonin is usually reabsorbed by the nerve cells (known as "reuptake"). SSRIs work by blocking ("inhibiting") reuptake, meaning more serotonin is available to pass further messages between nearby nerve cells.

It would be too simplistic to say that depression and related mental health conditions are caused by low serotonin levels, but a rise in serotonin levels can improve symptoms and make people more responsive to other types of treatment, such as CBT.

Doses and duration of treatment

SSRIs are usually taken in tablet form. When they're prescribed, you'll start on the lowest possible dose thought necessary to improve your symptoms.

SSRIs usually need to be taken for 2 to 4 weeks before the benefit is felt. You may experience mild side effects early on, but it's important that you don't stop taking the medicine. These effects will usually wear off quickly.

If you take an SSRI for 4 to 6 weeks without feeling any benefit, speak to your GP or mental health specialist. They may recommend increasing your dose or trying an alternative antidepressant.

A course of treatment usually continues for at least 6 months after you feel better, although longer courses are sometimes recommended and some people with recurrent problems may be advised to take them indefinitely.

Things to consider

SSRIs aren't suitable for everyone. They're not usually recommended if you're pregnant, breastfeeding or under 18, because there's an increased risk of serious side effects. However, exceptions can be made if the benefits of treatment are thought to outweigh the risks.

SSRIs also need to be used with caution if you have certain underlying health problems, including diabetes, epilepsy and kidney disease.

Some SSRIs can react unpredictably with other medicines, including some over-the-counter painkillers and herbal remedies, such as St John's wort. Always read the information leaflet that comes with your SSRI medicine to check if there are any medicines you need to avoid.

Side effects

Most people will only experience a few mild side effects when taking SSRIs. These can be troublesome at first, but they'll generally improve with time.

Common side effects of SSRIs can include:

feeling agitated, shaky or anxious
diarrhoea and feeling or being sick
dizziness
blurred vision
loss of libido (reduced sex drive)
difficulty achieving orgasm during sex or masturbation
in men, difficulty obtaining or maintaining an erection (erectile dysfunction)

You'll usually need to see your doctor every few weeks when you first start taking SSRIs to discuss how well the medicine is working. You can also contact your doctor at any point if you experience any troublesome or persistent side effects.

Types of SSRIs

There are currently 8 SSRIs prescribed in the UK:

citalopram (Cipramil)
dapoxetine (Priligy)
escitalopram (Cipralex)
fluoxetine (Prozac or Oxactin)
fluvoxamine (Faverin)
paroxetine (Seroxat)
sertraline (Lustral)
vortioxetine (Brintellix)

Page last reviewed: 8 December 2021
Next review due: 8 December 2024

What You Should Know about SSRIs

By Christina Johnson | October 27, 2016

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Depression and anxiety disorders are the most common mental health conditions in the United States, affecting about a quarter of the adult population (disproportionately women) each year, according to the National Institutes of Mental Health.

The most widely prescribed medications for treating depression and anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD), belong to a class of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

SSRIs — such as Lexapro, Celexa, Zoloft, Paxil and Prozac — are believed to alleviate symptoms of depression, excessive worry and compulsivity by acting upon the brain’s chemistry — specifically by blocking the breakdown and reabsorption of the neurotransmitter serotonin in the spaces between neurons. This selective reuptake inhibition causes serotonin levels to rise, promoting neuronal firing in circuits of the brain associated with mood and anxiety. A closely related class of antidepressants, called serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), block the reabsorption of both serotonin and norepinephrine, another neurotransmitter believed to be important in regulating mood and pain perception. Effexor and Cymbalta are examples of SNRIs.

Kelly Lee, PharmD, associate professor of clinical pharmacy and associate dean at UC San Diego Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, discusses these medications and how to take them to maximize their potential benefits.

Find the drug and dose that works for you
Although SSRIs all have the same mechanism of action, a drug that works for one person may not work for you. The same is true for the dose: A person’s gender, body size or age is not a predictor of how much you need to take.

“The brains of people are different,” Lee said. “Their ability to respond to a medication is different. We can’t predict which medication will work the best and we don’t know the effective dose until we see how the patient responds to the medication.”

Recognize the side effects
In general, SSRIs are well tolerated, meaning they don’t usually have serious lasting side effects. Initially, it is common to experience transient changes in appetite or sleep patterns, or to experience nausea or gastrointestinal discomfort. “These side effects usually go away after a couple weeks,” Lee said.

Sexual dysfunction, including delayed orgasm or ejaculatory disorders, is a common chronic side effect of some antidepressants. Teeth grinding or sweating may also persist. A rare and potentially serious side effect of SSRIs is an excessive release of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH), which often results in low sodium levels in the blood, a condition known as hyponatremia. Long-term use of SSRIs can also reduce bone density, which is why Lee recommends periodic bone density scans for her patients, especially older adults or those who are at risk of osteoporosis. Serotonin does not exist only in the brain, Lee explained, it is found also in the gut and the bloodstream.

Adhere to your medication regimen
If an SSRI works, patients may have a tendency to stop taking it prematurely.

“We do a lot of education on medication adherence because there are many patients who don’t understand how the drugs work or feel there is a stigma with a psychiatric diagnosis,” Lee said. “A person with type 1 diabetes should not stop taking their insulin. It is similar with a psychiatric condition. There is evidence that if you stop treatment early, your relapse risk is greater. We struggle with this with our patients a lot.”

Lee adds that a patient should take a medication at the dose that treats symptoms completely and then remain on medication for another four months or more depending upon past history. “Stopping a medication too early can set patients up for relapse.”

Know about drug interactions
SSRIs inhibit the activity of liver enzymes belonging to the cytochrome p450 family, which is involved in metabolizing many drugs. This means that your SSRI can change the effective dose and toxicity of any drug that also involves this enzyme. Pain killers in the codeine and hydrocodone family are an example. Codeine requires the activity of the cytochrome p450 2D6 enzyme to convert the drug to morphine. Certain SSRIs, such as Paxil, when taken with codeine can suppress pain relief. You should review your medication regimen with your physician or pharmacist regularly and alert them to any changes to the drugs you are taking.

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If you want to break through from the bottom, do the work at the highest level - Simonyan 1032603357.html

If you want to break through from the bottom, do the work at the highest level — Simonyan

journalists from Kyrgyzstan, how best to make a career in... 03/28/2017, Sputnik Kyrgyzstan

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2017

Video bridge on the topic "Gender issues in modern journalism"

Video bridge participants discuss the topic "Gender issues in modern journalism".

"Residents of the capital often grow up in much more "hothouse" conditions... And if a girl from the provinces wants to break into the people, she needs to perform a feat every day, to be head and shoulders above her colleagues in the capital," Simonyan said.

She noted that she herself faced many difficulties when she moved to Moscow from her native city. nine0003

"At first they told me that I was not dressed like that, that I had a provincial dialect. I had nowhere to live, and in general it was difficult ... All the guys from the province face this. You need to bite the bullet and do everything you can," added Chief Editor.

Simonyan believes that girls from the regions need to constantly work to the limit if they want to climb the career ladder.

The video bridge took place at the Sputnik multimedia press center Kyrgyzstan in partnership with the UN World Food Program (WFP). The central topics of discussion were the problems of gender equality in the media, as well as the implementation of women in journalism - from choosing a profession to building a career. The event, which brought together media experts from Kyrgyzstan and Russia, was attended by WFP Program Specialist Altynai Maimekova and UN Women project coordinator Zhypara Turmamatova. In their speech, they spoke about the issues of gender equality in Kyrgyzstan, and also discussed the development of professional competencies of journalists in covering gender topics. Ram Saravanamuttu, Country Director of WFP in the Kyrgyz Republic, addressed the guests and listeners of the Sputnik and WFP event with a welcoming speech. nine0003

Phrases, quotations and sayings about work and creativity

A person only enjoys what he has worked hard on - that's how he is arranged. - Exupery

Three things make a person happy: love, an interesting job and the opportunity to travel…
- Ivan Bunin

Immersion in work is the best way to overcome illness.

Working on oneself is the hardest work, so few do it.

Life without labor is the most miserable life. And when there is labor, every life is already more than half happy. nine0109 "Two lives" - a novel by K. E. Antarova

The real hobby of our generation is whining and stupid chatter about nothing. Bad relationships, school problems, an asshole boss... It's all bullshit. There is only one asshole and that is you. And you will be very surprised if you find out how much you can change just by tearing your ass off the couch.
- George Carlin

If you want to build a ship, you don't have to call people, plan, divide work, get tools. It is necessary to infect people with the desire for an endless sea. Then they will build the ships themselves...
- A. de Saint-Exupery

When you make art, it doesn't matter if it's good or bad, your soul grows.
- Kurt Vonnegut

What is a man when he is busy only sleeping and eating? An animal, nothing more.
- William Shakespeare (1564 - 01/23/1616) - English playwright, poet and actor

It is impossible to help someone who does not want to change his life.
- Hippocrates

In order to justify ourselves in our own eyes, we often convince ourselves that we are unable to achieve the goal; in fact, we are not powerless, but weak-willed. nine0109 - Francois de La Rochefoucauld

If an egg is broken by force from outside, life ends. If the egg is broken by force from within, life begins. All great things always start from within.

I tell myself: I have to grow and learn more. This is the only antidote for old age.
- Kirk Douglas, American actor

"Office work kills the movement of thought .. weakens the potential and weakens the energy force ..."

Life is growth. When we stop growing, technically or spiritually, we become no better than the dead. nine0109 - Morihei Ueshiba

If you are passionate about what you love, you can even miss the apocalypse.
- Max Frei

A man's joy is only what he has worked hard for - that's how he works.
- Exupery

You can blame others for everything and despair, or you can get up early every day and stubbornly achieve success.
- Luke Daly

It's better to go to the goal at the speed of a turtle than to make up excuses at the speed of light for why you stand still. nine0109 -Bodo Schaefer

Iron rusts without finding a use for itself, stagnant water rots or freezes in the cold, and a person's mind, without finding a use for itself, withers.
- Leonardo da Vinci

Working for an owner or a large company will never be the solution to money problems.
- Robert Kiyosaki

If you are in the right place, doing what you want to do, what your soul is, then this activity will never devastate and tire you, but on the contrary, fill you with energy, stimulate. nine0003

If you are crazy enough to do what you love, you are destined to live a life full of meaning.
- Herbert Kelleher

It's better to create work than to look for it.

When I didn't have enough money, I sat down to think, and didn't run to earn money. An idea is the most valuable commodity in the world.
- Steve Jobs

The purest water is not the one that lingers in a large stagnant puddle, but the one that flows over stones, overcomes obstacles, falls down waterfalls - it is she who eventually becomes drinkable. This is water that was purified in the process of falling, thousands and thousands of times it crashed against stones, water that sang in suffering and wove white foam of hope, giving birth to a rainbow every time it encountered obstacles in its path. nine0109 - Jorge Angel Livraga

If you want to have what you never had, start doing what you never did.
- Richard Bach

Choose a job you love and you won't have to work a day in your life.
- Confucius

Don't be afraid to do what you don't know how to do. Remember, the ark was built by an amateur; professionals built the Titanic.
- Dave Berry

Keep busy. This is the cheapest medicine on earth - and one of the most effective. nine0109 - Dale Carnegie

The one who does not do what he is told, and the one who does no more than what he is told, will never make it to the top.
- Andrew Carnegie, American businessman, major steelmaker, philanthropist, multimillionaire.

If you think you can, you can. But if you think you can't, then you can't. - Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, one of the most successful business women of the 20th century.

If you want to succeed, your heart must be in your business, and your business must be in your heart. nine0109 - Thomas J. Watson, former president of IBM.

Your most unsuccessful clients are your richest source of knowledge.
- Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft Corporation.

Whoever works all day has no time to earn money.
- John Davison Rockefeller

It doesn't make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people to tell us what to do. - Steve Jobs, founder and CEO of Apple Corporation. nine0003

Idleness and idleness entail viciousness and ill health - on the contrary, the aspiration of the mind to something brings cheerfulness, eternally directed towards strengthening life.
- Hippocrates

The average person is concerned about how to kill time, but a talented person seeks to use it.
- A. Schopenhauer

There is only one way to do great work - to love it. If you don't get there, wait. Don't get down to business. As with everything else, your own heart will help you to suggest an interesting business. nine0109 - Steve Jobs

If you haven't found your business yet, look for it. Do not stop. As with all things of the heart, you will know when you find it. And like any good relationship, it gets better and better with age. So seek until you find. Don't stand.
- Steve Jobs

You need to find what you love. And this is as true for work as it is for relationships. Your work will fill most of your life and the only way to be completely satisfied is to do what you think is a great thing. And the only way to do great things is to love what you do. nine0109 - Steve Jobs

Your time is limited, don't waste it living another life. Don't get hooked on a creed that exists on other people's thinking. Don't let the eyes of others drown out your own inner voice. And it is very important to have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you really want to do. Everything else is secondary. We are here to contribute to this world. Otherwise, why are we here?
- Steve Jobs

Take a step and the road will appear by itself.
- S. Jobs

The brain wears out when it is not used.
- Bernard Werber.

If a man's calling is to be a janitor, he must sweep the streets with the same inspiration as Michelangelo painted vaults or Beethoven composed music. He must sweep the street so that all the spirits of Heaven and Earth reverently say: "Here lives a great janitor who does his job flawlessly."
- Martin Luther King

Who does not go forward; he goes back: there is no standing position.
- V. G. Belinsky

Never lose patience - this is the last key that opens the door.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

"Know: if, having lived a day, you have not done a single good deed or learned nothing new in a day, the day will be spent in vain."

"Laziness and self-pity are the most faithful companions in old age! With their help, only a couple of active actions will remain: look a little and chew a little. Old age will seat you in an easy chair, carefully wrap it in a soft blanket and undoubtedly lead you to the grave." nine0003

"Work is the best medicine. Work is the only foundation of life. Work forges unbreakable perseverance in a person's character. The busiest people are the most durable. Work, constant doing, creation are the best tonic medicine. A healthy joy of work will be the source of a long fruitful life. Precisely daily labor is the accumulation of a fiery treasure....Each work gives rise to energy, which in essence is similar to cosmic energy....One must love one's labor in order to find rest and justification in it.Love for labor gives joy, as well as the strength to improve quality One can love labor only by knowing it. Love for labor is the best way for the growth and accumulation of fiery energy. Labor can be accompanied by both joy and inspirational thought. Joyful labor is several times more successful." nine0109 — S. V. Stulginsky "Fundamentals of scientific, philosophical and religious worldview - the key to understanding the new era"

Without a goal there is no activity, without interests there is no goal, and without activity there is no life. The source of interests, goals and activities is the substance of social life.
- VG Belinsky

For me, to live means to work.
- I. K. Aivazovsky

A person is born not to drag out a sad existence in inaction, but to work on a great and grandiose deed. nine0109 - L. Alberti

Whoever has no goal finds no joy in any occupation.
- D Leopardi

The meaning of our life is continuous movement.
- Yakub Kolas

Anyone who cannot have 2/3 of the day for himself should be called a slave.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Work hard! The world will not be a paradise For those who want to live lazy.
- Sax Hans

Man is made for action. Not to act and not to exist are one and the same for a person.
- Voltaire

"In order to be healthy, you need: cold, hunger and movement!
And the whole civilization strives for warmth, satiety and peace.
People do everything in order to die" ...
- Porfiry Ivanov

Legs get stronger when you walk!

Creativity is the engine of human development. Without creativity, we would remain primitive people. My creativity brings me joy. That's why I want to share my skill with you.

Rivers flow for the benefit of others, trees bear fruit for the benefit of others, noble people live for the benefit of others. nine0109 - Indian wisdom

Happiness is not always doing what you want, but always wanting what you do.
- Leo Tolstoy

Whoever has a lot of work has a short day.

The best job is a highly paid hobby.

I beg all people to stand and take your place in nature, it is not occupied by anyone and is not bought, but only by your own deeds and work.
- P. Ivanov

Man is arranged in such a way that when something kindles his soul, everything becomes possible. nine0109 - La Fontaine

A person is valuable when his words match his actions.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Desire is not enough, action is needed...
- Bruce Lee

If you have an apple and I have an apple, and if we exchange these apples, then you and I have one apple left. And if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.
- Bernard Shaw

If you have a great goal in front of you, and your possibilities are limited, act anyway; for only through action can your possibilities increase. nine0109 - Sri Aurobindo

Trying to succeed without doing anything is like trying to reap a harvest where you have not sown anything.
- David Bly

To be healthy you need cold, hunger and movement! And the whole civilization strives for warmth, satiety and peace. People do everything to die.
- Porfiry Ivanov

Do not force your soul with a profession other than yours. A profession should initially be an act of love. And not an arranged marriage. And before it's too late, do not forget that the work of all life is not a work, but life. nine0109 - Haruki Murakami

A gem cannot be polished without friction. Similarly, a person cannot become successful without a sufficient number of difficult attempts.
- Confucius

I would rather fail at what I like than succeed at what I hate.
- George Burns

The main troubles of the human race from the fact that out of a thousand people, nine hundred ninety-nine live to death, without understanding themselves, having spent their whole lives doing something other than their own.
- Boris Akunin

People who succeed in this world are not lazy and look for the circumstances they need. And if they don't find it, they create it.
- Bernard Shaw

Powers lie dormant deep within a man - a power that can shake his imagination, the possession of which he could never even dream of, such forces that can completely transform his whole life if organized and harnessed to work.

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