Depression Causes and Symptoms: Zoloft. Anxiety and Depression Med. ?

Question by Prest B: Zoloft. Anxiety and Depression med. ?
Does it actually work? I have Seasonal depression: depressed in the winter and fall, happy in the summer an spring. Plus I have social anxiety. Any answers would be awesome.

Best answer:

Answer by oldtimekid2
It does work for some people, but I’ve seen several studies that have shown that in unbiased circumstances (meaning the drug company isn’t funding or influencing the study), the antidepressants do no better than placebo.
http://www.drugs.com/zoloft.html points out that “Zoloft is an antidepressant in a group of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Zoloft affects chemicals in the brain that may become unbalanced and cause depression, panic, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive symptoms.” It also lists a huge line of side effects including increased risk of suicide and many things that actually make some people more depressed (sexual side effects and whatnot).

However, I’ve seen a lot of research (and noticed in myself and a few people close to me) that low Vitamin D levels do contribute heavily to depression during the winter since you get less sunlight exposure. Some people like to go tanning during the winter to get extra Vitamin D and boost their mood, some like to take a supplemental Vitamin D to keep their mood up… either way, I’d check that avenue before trying something that may make you worse. You can actually have your doctor test your Vitamin D levels with a simple blood test… that’ll be a great way to see if you’re deficient or low in Vitamin D (which would give a great indication to your depression). If it helps, you can take a look at http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/depression.shtml http://www.webmd.com/depression/news/20080505/depressed-older-adults-lack-vitamin-d or http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/diet-recovery (all of which I found on a search in Yahoo) for more details on the recent research that shows just how important Vitamin D levels are. Good luck and I hope I helped!

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