Mental Health Can Improve With The Right Approach

When we say mental health problem, the first thing that we think of is those men in white suits. It is not good to stereotype but it happens. Not many people understand the term mental health and you most certainly don’t if the men in white suits pop into your mind. Mental health problems are actually very common in our society nowadays.

We have people who suffer from panic attacks, depressions, delusions, hallucinations and also suicidal. Most of these health problems are caused by stresses and tensions that we acquire from our daily lives. Trying to catch up with the society, we tend to worry about the past, the present and the future and all these worries eventually take its toll upon us.

The most common form of mental health problem is depression. Depression is actually a state of one person’s mental health. A person suffering from depression is usually melancholic and looks sad all the time. There might also be lack of activities on the person concerned. Minor depression may only lasts for a few hours or a few days, and is usually triggered by unhappy turns of recent events. Major depressions however is usually caused or triggered by traumatic events, either from the past or current events. Some symptoms that you can look out for to determine whether a person has the depression include fatigue, loneliness, feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness, pessimism, sadness and a major downturn in mood.

People who suffer from depression are usually recommended to see psychiatrists to discuss the problems or the root of their depression with the psychiatrists. These psychiatrists will then determine the best therapy or medications for them. The medicine for the patients suffering from depression syndrome is called antidepressants. One popular example of the antidepressant is the SSRI or the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

Serotonin is actually our body’s mood-influencing neurotransmitter. The SSRI drugs help treat people with depression by improving and induce the production of serotonin in their neuronal cells. The increment of the serotonin in their neuronal cells will then lessens depression and anxiety attacks on the patients.

There are six types of the SSRIs which include the citalopram (Celexa), the escitalopram (Lexapro), the fluvoxamine (Luvox), the paroxetine (Paxil), and the fluoxetine (Prozac). These SSRI drugs are usually prescribed to patients suffering from unipolar and bipolar major depression and also patients suffering from anxiety attacks. Apart from treating patients with depressions, there are also clinical trials to treat patients suffering from dysthymia, premenstrual dysphoria, bulimia nervosa, obesity, borderline personality disorder, alcoholism, rheumatic pain, and migraine headache.

Even though these six types of SSRI drugs sound different, all of them work the same way as one another. The only two things that we should know about the differences between these SSRIs are the effectiveness and also the side effects of these SSRI drugs products. However, although these six types of SSRI drug are similar, they are differentiated by the quickness of the drug to take effect and also the harshness of the side effects of the drugs on the patients.

All six types of SSRI drugs have almost the same time frame for the drug to take effect to normalize the patients’ serotonin level. But there are also those who claimed, though not proven, that Lexapro is the fastest SSRI drug to release the effect needed on its’ patients but the healing of the patients’ mindset would probably take around several months to a year or more.

This healing time frame is slightly longer than the other SSRI drugs. Once the patients are feeling better and their serotonin can be kept to the normal level without the induced help of SSRI drugs, the patients can stop taking the drugs and eventually withdraw from using the SSRI drugs completely.

No drugs are without its side effects. This is the same with the SSRI drugs. However, the side effects of the SSRI drugs are usually manageable and will also eventually disappear for good once the SSRI instances in the patients’ body diminishes completely. The side effects of the SSRI drugs may include the feeling of nausea, sexual dysfunctions, severe weight gain, diarrhoea, anxiety and agitation attacks, sleeplessness or insomnia, dryness in mouth, drowsiness and fatigues, headaches, and also some anticholinergic effects.

Some patients who take these antidepressants for their depression may also experience more drastic and worsen changes in their behaviour caused by the drugs. These symptoms may even lead to suicidal thoughts and actions. If you are suffering from these symptoms or if you notice someone who does, please talk to a doctor for the best course of actions.

Depression does not have to be a big problem in our life. We may experience some blue days and minor depression, but we have to remember that mental health problems are like any other illnesses as well; they are treatable. Do not wait for the worsen symptoms. Talk to a psychiatrist or a doctor so that they can help you with further treatments.