Antidepressants may reduce negative memories in depressed patients

Antidepressants have been around since the 1950s and we prescribe them for patients battling depression. They're FDA-approved. But you see, even at that, there's still much we don't know about how antidepressants work. We just know that they do, and they're often your best bet for relieving depression symptoms.

Still, the reason scientists don't know how exactly antidepressants work may be the same reason why they don't work for every patient. Scientists and mental health service providers agree that this is a big problem.

However, there have been speculations that antidepressants do affect memory.

How?

Researchers from Rice University have conducted a study to answer that question.

The study published in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience discovered that antidepressants may reduce negative memories in depressed patients and even improve their memory function.

However, this only happens when the antidepressant is effective. Perhaps, by removing sad memories and consolidating positive ones, the drug helps to address some causative factors of the patient's depression. Well, perhaps.

A follow-up study is underway to find out how exactly the brain responds to these antidepressants.

The findings may help us to better select treatments according to the patient's symptoms.

Author

Satu H. Woodland, PMHCNS-BC, APRN Satu Woodland is owner and clinician of Hope Mental Health, an integrative mental health practice located at Bown Crossing in Boise, Idaho. She sees children, adolescents, and adults.  Ms. Woodland with her background in nursing, prefers a holistic and integrative approach to mental health care that addresses the mind and body together. While Ms. Woodland provides medication management services in all her patients, she believes in long-lasting solutions that include a number of psychotherapies, namely cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure and response prevention therapy, attention to lifestyle, evidenced based alternative psychiatric care and spirituality. If you’d like to gain control over your mental health issues, call Hope Mental Health at 208-918-0958, or use the online scheduling tool to set up an initial consultation.