Professor
Professor Thomas Terleph
Professor Email
terlepht@sacredheart.edu
Course Name
Senior Seminar in Biology
Course Number
BI-399-A
Document Type
Essay
Original Publication Date
November 29, 2017
Publication Date
4-2018
Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most debilitating mental illness worldwide. Primary treatment of MDD is the administration of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Deemed as the safest psychotropic drug thus far, SSRIs have been shown to reduce depressive symptoms and enhance the quality of life in youth, adult and geriatric populations. However, with rising numbers of individuals taking maintenance doses of SSRIs for five or more years, researchers are beginning to discover severe adverse side effects associated with prolonged treatment. The overall risks of long-term SSRI therapy include tachyphylaxis, tardive dysphoria, structural neurological abnormalities and suicide. SSRIs also have the potential to exacerbate depressive symptoms and leave patients in a paradoxical state. The equivocal efficacy of SSRIs can be traced back to ambiguous diagnostic methods, subjective symptom rating scales and the nation’s unhealthy reliance on cost-effective medication therapies. A comparison of short-term and long-term potency, as well as longitudinal consequences, reveals that SSRIs are not as efficacious in the treatment of depression as researchers once believed them to be.
Recommended Citation
Giblin, Stephanie, "Ambiguities in the Efficacy of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors in the Treatment of Depression" (2018). Writing Across the Curriculum. 21.
https://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/wac_prize/21
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
