AboutPatricia A. Schafer, PCC-S, NCC, LICDC Expertise I am a Licensed Professional Clinical
Counselor in Cleveland, Ohio and a National Certified Counselor. I am presently working on my PhD at Kent State. I specialize in Seasonal Affective Disorder, and other depression problems. Also, I counsel families of alcoholics/drug addictions; social phobia; stress; anxieties; women`s issues and a variety of other issues. If I can help, let me know. Thank you.
Question I'm trying to find out what antidepressants are most commonly prescribed to severely depressed teenagers, and how a doctor decides which medication is right for a specific patient. I'd appreciate anything you can tell me about this. Thank you!
Answer Hi Athlynne:
The doctor, and I strongly recommend a psychiatrist, because they know their meds and brain chemistry better than family doctors, looks at the age of the teenager because some antidepressants have been shown to cause suicidal thoughts, increased anger, etc.
Next, the doctor has to decide whether to work on the dopamine producing area of the brain or the serotonin producing area and/or both. Then, basically, it is trail and error for some because everybody's body chemistry is different.
The advantage of the newer drugs is they are geared towards those areas of the brain and produce less side affects as those of, let's say, 10 years ago.
You can look up on Welbutrin (dopamine) or Zoloft (serotonin - an SSRS that is, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) and also Effexor which covers both and read about their research trials and side effects to get you familiar with them.
Also, check out the web site of Dr. Ivan Goldberg - it is excellent for educating yourself on various forms of depression and other mood disorders. Just type his name in the search engine and he will pop up. He is an excellent New York Psychiatrist who specializes in depression.
