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Lifestyle Alternatives to Antidepressants

Monday, November 30th 2020 1:08am 7 min read
The Institute for Functional Medicine instituteforfxmed

We inspire practitioners to rediscover their passion for medicine and patients to take active ownership of their health through Functional Medicine.

Depression is a common psychiatric disease that particularly affects older adults, at 15-20% of the US population.1 Yet despite this, a groundbreaking study in 2018 found that only a small fraction of patients diagnosed with depression actually start treatment—approximately one-third.2

Only 1/3 of patients diagnosed with depression start treatment.

For those who do adhere to antidepressant therapies, treatment of the acute phase of major depressive disorder (MDD) led to a greater number of adverse events in patients 65 and over, according to a 2019 systematic review.1 Antidepressants included in the study were the following:

  • Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
  • Serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)
  • Bupropion
  • Mirtazapine
  • Trazodone
  • Vilazodone
  • Vortioxetine

Specifically, the reports found that SSRIs and SNRIs led to a greater number of study withdrawals due to adverse events, and duloxetine increased the risk of falls.1

Non-adherence to antidepressants is also common.3 A 2017 survey found that 68% of the females were non-adherent to their prescribed antidepressant therapy.3 Forgetfulness was the main reason for missing doses. Another study showed that antidepressant non-adherence is common among veterans, with ineffectiveness and side effects as commonly reported reasons.4

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