Modern anti-depressant medications were first made available in 1987. Known as SSRIs - Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors - these are medications that are only available with a prescription. They were originally formulated to relieve both depression as well as anxiety disorders.
However, over the course of time doctors began to prescribe them for a wide variety of additional psychiatric and physical maladies. This conditions included alcoholism, bulimia nervosa, obesity, OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), and borderline personality disorder.
Many of today's doctors prescribe SSRIs because they feel that they are safer, more effective and tolerated better than other drugs.
The SSRIs that are most prescribed by doctors include Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, and Lexapro.
Generally, SSRIs are relatively safe medications. Side effects, if any, usually aren't dangerous. For the most part it's rare for a doctor to discontinue or even reduce the dosage because of a patient's negative reaction.
However, this is definitely not the case when expectant mothers take SSRIs during their pregnancy. This class of drug can actually pose considerable health risks for their unborn child.
A study involving SSRIs and pregnancy was published in 2006. After the study was published the FDA issued an advisory.
The study, can be found in the New England Journal of Medicine. It compared expectant women who had taken SSRIs during the last 4