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I almost decided to not write a summary for this one -- Since unquestionably, antidepressants have been the most popular class of psychiatric drugs for a very long time (about the past 20+ years or so is my guesstimate.
Well, okay, it's good that I'm doing a summary, since I haven't gotten to writing up the full page yet.
Antidepressants include the following classes of drugs:
Perhaps the most well-known antidepressants are the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), which indirectly cause your synapses to flood with serotonin. Examples are also fairly well-known: Fluoxetine (US: PROZAC), escitalopram (US: LEXAPRO), sertaline (US: ZOLOFT) and the list goes on and on.
Selective Serotonin/Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SSNRIs). these cause your serotonergic synapses to flood with serotonin, and your norepinephrinergic ones follow suit. This is actually the newest class of available antidepressants, its archetype, venlafaxine (US: EFFEXOR) having been available in the US for something on the order of around 10-15 years.
Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs): These get their name from the appearance of their chemical structure (unsurprisingly, containing three rings of some sort). Commonly used examples include amytriptyline and nortryptiline (US: PAMELOR).This class of antidepressants is older, dating back from the 1970s, and I can tell you with my own reasonable guess that they're no longer popular as a "first choice" depression treatment. Why? Sure, TCAs act similar to the SSNRIs, and are theoretically as potent. The catch? Side effects. Because TCAs also have an activity blocking other receptors, most cause sedation, anticholinergic effects (dry mouth, et al.), and if you're really unlucky, heart arrhythmias. And oh yes, the weight gain, can't forget that.
Atypical Antidepressants (AADs); Serotonin Blockers. Yes, you can actually get a good antidepressant effect by blocking some types of serotonin receptors. Popular medications in this class are trazodone (US: DESYREL; brand name rarely used these days) and mirtazapine (US: REMERON; REMERON-SOLTAB). Unfortunately, most of these drugs (for unrelated reasons) cause extreme sleepiness. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the serotonin blocker AADs are actually well-known for being prescribed to depressed patients who also have insomnia to go along with their depression!
MAOI Antidepressants: These were the first ever prescription antidepressants, with the first one being put out to market sometime in the late 1950s. MAOI stands for "monoamine oxidase inhibitor", and that's what these drugs do. The end result of inhibiting the enzyme monoamine oxidase (itself an assistant in breaking down excess neurotransmitters) is a flood of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. MAOIs suffer from unpopularity due to lots of interactions with other meds and foods, and the food interactions are mostly with foods containing the amino acid relative tyramine, present in fava beans, ripened cheeses, most beers, red wines, cured sausages, and that's not an exhaustive list. Taking certain medications (including just about all other psychiatric meds!) or tyramine-containing foods during MAOI treatment can cause a hypertensive crisis, a surge of neurotransmitters, which if sufficiently severe, may lead to death. So be careful about booking that trip to Munich, guys.
Stimulant antidepressant/s
These antidepressants work on norepinephrine and dopamine, sparing the serotonin system. The major example approved by the FDA is bupropion (US: WELLBUTRIN). Use of this class in general is limited since bupropion is essentially the only stimulant approved by the US FDA for treatment of depression.
Meds Explained for the Masses: Available summaries
The above was just a summary. For all intents and purposes, I pulled the above information out of my arse without really looking at authoritative sources. I'll be looking more seriously into these topics with the use of published sources (and of course, citations here) when I get the opportunity to write up the full version of this topic.
