LEARNING ABOUT ANTIDEPRESSANTS
Antidepressant drugs are derivatives of major tranquillizers, which in turn are derivatives of sedating antihistamines. Antidepressants make profoundly unhappy and often suicidal people much happier. This transformation takes place after two to four weeks of therapy.
Side effects of the antidepressant drugs are legion and include dry mouth, blurred vision, tremor and constipation. Hallucinations, excitement and confusion can also occur and the antidepressants may be responsible for the precipitation of epilepsy and jaundice. Occasionally the antidepressant drugs become a cardiac hazard. Sometimes sudden death occurs in people with coexistent heart disease. Sometimes death occurs in people with apparently healthy hearts.
Doctors frequently provide this potentially lethal group of drugs to the very people that may consider the use of the same drugs as a means of suicide. In such cases, it is customary to prescribe only a small number of tablets and to review the patient very frequently over the first few weeks of therapy. An antidepressant called Tolvon better suits depressed people with heart conditions. The manufacturers of Prothiaden also claim greater safety in that regard, while two new drugs called Prozac and Aurorix are thought to be even safer again.
Commonly prescribed antidepressants include the following list of drugs: Anafranil, Deptran, Nortab, Pertofran, Prothiaden, Sinequan, Surmontil, Tofranil, Tolvon and Tryptanol.
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