Do Antidepressant Medications Work?

Doctors and psychiatrists have been prescribing depression medication for decades — taking antidepressants is often the first-line treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), which affects an estimated 21 million adults in the United States every year. Yet, while countless studies confirm the efficacy of antidepressant medication, it’s still natural to wonder: do antidepressants work? 

Hesitation is natural — it can stem from worrying about antidepressant drug side effects or wanting to use holistic and natural remedies to treat depression. Because not every medication works the same way for every person, unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all option for depression. 

Understanding as much as possible about how depression medication works is a part of the process when seeking the best treatment plan. Keep reading to learn more about taking antidepressants — we’re covering everything from the effectiveness of depression medication to how they work, and more.  

How Do Antidepressant Medications Work?

While we don’t fully understand how antidepressants work, research shows they change chemical levels in the brain. Neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine play critical roles in mood and emotion regulation. When levels are out of balance, it can change how you think, feel, and behave. 

Different antidepressants will target various neurotransmitters, and it’s believed they work by leveling out chemical imbalances to change brain circuits and pathways involved in mood regulation and emotional stability.

It’s important to note that antidepressants don’t cure depression. They alter brain chemistry to reduce depression symptoms while you’re taking them. This means when you stop taking depression meds, your brain chemistry can return to what it once was, and your depression symptoms can return. 

Mechanisms of different antidepressants

Antidepressants can unlock parts of the brain to help you feel better. Different drugs target and impact your mood differently. 

• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) — SSRIs are the most commonly prescribed type of antidepressant. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors work by preventing serotonin reuptake (reabsorption) to boost brain levels. Serotonin is known to regulate mood and social behavior. 
• Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) — SNRIs work by boosting serotonin as well, but they also increase the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, which is another mood regulator.
• Norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitors (NDRI) — NDRIs enhance norepinephrine and dopamine levels in the brain. These neurotransmitters are linked to the brain’s reward and pleasure center. By blocking the reuptake, NDRIs are effective in alleviating depressive symptoms in some people. 

How Effective Are Antidepressants?

Before starting any new antidepressant, most people ask one crucial question: do depression meds work? Unfortunately, there isn’t a single, clear answer for this since medication can work in different ways, on varying levels, from person to person. An antidepressant drug can treat one person’s symptoms very effectively while not working at all for someone else.

“Antidepressants can be remarkably helpful in treating symptoms of depression. In addition to its antidepressant benefits, this class of medications can also treat symptoms of social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).”

– Talkspace psychiatrist Dr. Dion Metzger

Clinical research and healthcare data can help us better understand efficacy on a broader level. Large bodies of research — that reviewed 522 trials with a total of more than 116,000 participants — indicate that antidepressants are generally much more effective than placebos in improving symptoms in people with major depressive disorder (MDD). 

Other research shows that people who used antidepressants were less likely to be depressed up to 8 years later, suggesting overwhelming long-term benefits with proper use. 

Yet another study concludes that the severity of symptoms might play a role in levels of efficacy when we analyze how well depression meds work. The findings suggest that the benefits of medication can increase in cases where symptoms are “very severe,” while they might be minimal or not at all in cases where symptoms are “mild to moderate.”