[오늘의 키워드] Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
According to a study recently published in Neuropsychopharmacology by a British-Denmark research team, antidepressant drugs play a role in relieving emotional pain such as depression, but can lead to the result of taking away emotional pleasure as well.
Antidepressants help alleviate negative emotions in depressed patients, but they can also have side effects that reduce positive emotions as well. The drug used in this study is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI).
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are drugs that improve depressive symptoms by activating serotonin, nicknamed the happy hormone. It has been reported that depression symptoms improve within a few weeks of taking this drug.
Depression is also affected by genetic and environmental factors, but it also occurs when brain neurotransmitters such as serotonin are imbalanced.
However, while taking this drug, various side effects such as headache, diarrhea, and weight loss may occur. Some patients have also reported that their depression worsened during the first week of use or after increasing the dose. When patients arbitrarily stop taking the drug, depression may recur or withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, irritability, fatigue, and dizziness may appear. As this study has shown that this drug also has a role in desensitizing to positive emotions, it must be taken under the guidance of an expert.
