Most anti depressants are classified as selective saratonin re-uptake inhibitors. they work to balance out your saratonin levels. They include drugs like Lexapro, Efexxor, Welbutrin, Prozac, etc...
They help by 'levelling out' your moods. You will not get very depressed while on them, but you also won't get very happy either. Those 'no one likes me, I will never get a girl, no one loves me, no one cares about me' thoughts tend to go away.
I was on Effexxor, Welbutrin, and Lexapro for a time. The side effects I experienced on all three were extreme jitteriness, shaking/tremors, and loss of appetite. Alot of people on these meds have reported something like that at first, but once the body adjusts to the mediciation the jitteriness and tremors subside.
Sometimes these drugs are prescribed to help with weightloss, as they typically have strong apetite suppressing qualities.
These drugs are not controlled, and have no addictive qualities to them at all...unlike anti anxiety medications like Diazapam, Xanax, etc...
Personally, I could not get by the shakes. They were pretty extreme in my case to the point I could not drive or function normally, so I stopped taking them. However at the pharmacy where I work at a few folks here do take them with very postive results. Our sr pharmacists' husband is on Paxil, another ssri, and he swears by it. He has been taking it for years. He is also a pharmacist.
I know my mood swings, and when I get down, I get way down. I should probably be on something, but right now am doing pretty good working things out on my own by simply adopting positive lifestyle changes...getting out and talking to people, taking care of myself, calling someone when I get down, etc...
These medicines can be prescribed by any dr. My personal dr prescribed the effexxor for me. However, they normally would rather have you see a psychiatrist so you can be prescribed the most effective meds. When the effexxor didn't work for me they refrerred me to a psychiatrist. He examined me like any other dr, and scripted the other stuff.
For those that may be uncomfortable seeing a 'psychiatrist' I would like to point out that they are not therapist...those are psychologists. psychologists will try and talk you through your problems, and psychiatrists will try and medicate you through your problems (for the most part
) However your family dr will usually try something first, and if that doesn't work refer you to a psychiatrist.