Antidepressants and Women

Like so many other medications, the studies have focused on men and not women. The same is true for antidepressants. Studies did not like to use women because the hormonal cycles affect moods and would be difficult to control. Studies are showing that the SSRI antidepressants work best in the presence of estrogen. Women will do better on these medications than men BUT not after menopause. Postmenopausal women will do better on a ntoher kind of antidepressant – ones that target norepinephrine and dopamine. I have seen quite a few women in my practice who are puzzled that their Prozac stopped working after years of being successful. Well, this may be the reason. Check out the article on this in Scientific American Mind May/June 2010.  There will be more to come on antidepressants and the placebo effect.