How New Generation Drugs Are Targeting Depression

Two years ago, I talked with a prominent psychiatrist about what could be done for all the people who have treatment-resistant depression who do not respond — or only partially respond — to the drugs on the market today. “We wait for better drugs to come out,” he said. I wanted a better answer, because my experience with the newer drugs like Zyprexa (olanzapine) — atypical neuroleptics (a type of antipsychotic) that were supposed to treat bipolar disorder with fewer side effects than typical mood stabilizers like lithium and Depakote (divalproex sodium) — proved to be a disaster. But I am coming around to agree with the psychiatrist. With better research comes new ways of tackling the beast of depression. As we learn about different systems that may contribute to the illness and the complicated mechanisms of the brain, scientists are thinking differently about drugs to treat depression and bipolar disorder. A fascinating article published October 15 in The Economist, “Novel Drugs for Depression,” discusses where we’ve been in terms of drug treatment for depression, and the wide road ahead of us. The article is hopeful and exciting. Depression: More Than a Chemical Imbalance Drug companies like Pfizer sold the public the simple “chemical imbalance” theory for depression in the late 1980s and 1990s because it’s easy to understand: A shortage of neurotransmitters like serotonin could be replenished with a class of drugs call...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Alternative and Nutritional Supplements Antidepressant Antipsychotic Depression Medications Treatment Depressive Episode Major Depressive Disorder Source Type: blogs