Driving Skills Impaired by Antidepressant Treatment
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Depression seems to be related to a chemical imbalance in the brain that makes it hard for the cells to communicate with one another. Depression also seems to be genetic (to run in families).
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Depression can be linked to events in your life, such as the death of someone you love, a divorce or job loss. Taking certain medicines, abusing drugs or alcohol, or having other illnesses can also lead to depression. Depression isn't caused by personal weakness, laziness or lack of willpower
If you're depressed, you may also have headaches, other aches and pains, digestive problems and problems with sex. An older person with depression may feel confused or have trouble understanding simple requests.
Many medicines can be used to treat depression. These medicines are called antidepressants. They correct the chemical imbalance in the brain that causes depression.Depression can be treated with medicines, or a special type of counseling called psychotherapy, or with both.
Antidepressants work differently for different people. They also have different side effects. So, even if one medicine bothers you or doesn't work for you, another may help. You may notice improvement as soon as 1 week after you start taking the medicine. But you probably won't see the full effects for about 6 to 8 weeks. You may have side effects at first but they tend to lessen after a couple of weeks.
People taking antidepressant medication may find their driving skills impaired, German researchers warn.
"Psychomotor disturbances can frequently be found in depressed patients and may have an important influence on the ability to drive," Dr. Alexander Brunnauer and colleagues point out in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. "Additionally, effects of sedation, as seen with some antidepressants, probably impair driving performance."
Brunnauer, of the Academic Hospital of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Neurology in Wasserburg/Inn, and his associates examined the effects of antidepressant treatment on psychomotor functions related to driving skills in 100 inpatients with major depressive disorder.
The following abilities were measured according to the German guidelines for road and traffic safety: visual perception, reaction time, selective attention, vigilance, and stress tolerance.
No clinically relevant psychomotor disturbances were seen in 24 percent of the patients. Mild-to-moderate impairments were observed in 60 percent of patients, and approximately 16 percent of subjects had severe impairments in psychomotor functions related to driving abilities.
Compared with patients treated with older types of antidepressants called tricyclics, those on the newer SSRI-type had altogether better test performance. The most pronounced differences were observed in measures of reactivity, stress tolerance, and selective attention.
"Antidepressants seem to affect fitness to drive differently in depressed patients and thus physicians should be concerned about traffic safety when prescribing antidepressants," Dr. Brunnauer's team concludes.
"The great variability within treatment groups indicates that counseling patients with respect to driving safety must be carried out individually," they advise.
Antidepressants can often cause side effects, and an inability to tolerate these is the most common cause of discontinuing an otherwise working medication.
Side effects of SSRIs( Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors): Nausea, diarrhea, headaches. Sexual side effects are also common with SSRIs, such as loss of libido, failure to reach orgasm and erectile problems. Seratonergic syndrome is also a worrying condition associated with the use of SSRIs.
Side effects of TCAs (tricyclic antidepressants): Fairly common side effects include dry mouth, blurred vision, drowsiness, dizziness, tremors, sexual problems, blurred vision, dizziness, drowsiness, skin rash, and weight gain or loss.
Side effects of MAOIs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors): Rare side effects of MAOIs like phenelzine (brand name: Nardil) and tranylcypromine (brand name: Parnate) include liver inflammation, heart attack, stroke, and seizures.
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