In today’s world ‘stress’
has become a common household phenomenon. Professional, social, economic and personal
issues drive people to unimaginable level of stress and the outcome is that 1
in 4 people are afflicted with depression (Mental health statistics, UK). True,
happiness is a state of mind but it is also a fact that people have different
intrinsic capacities to deal with stressful conditions and not many can cope
with a chronic onslaught of ‘stressful’ conditions!
We have come a long way
in the field of psychiatry since the time when lithium used to be prescribed
for ‘treating’ mental disorders like depression. The older tricyclic
antidepressants (Doxepin, Imipramime etc.) have been superseded by the newer
SSRIs (Selective Serotonin reuptake inhibitors), SSREs (Selective serotonin
reuptake enhancers), atypical antidepressants (Bupropion) and the MAOIs
(Monoamine oxidase inhibitors). It would look as if we have a good arsenal to fight this
menace.
But if one scratches
the surface, one would realize that in many cases these medications are the
problem and not the solution. The side effects of these ‘newer’ class of drugs
range from the ‘manageable’ nausea, dry mouth, weight gain/loss to the dangerous
cases of increased suicidal tendencies and anxiety. The problem is that still
the theories behind the probable cause of depression revolve around the differential
levels of neurotransmitters (Serotonin, dopamine) in depressed patients.
Although, many scientific reports have validated these claims but doubts
persist. To top the level of confusion, both classes of drugs such as SSRIs and
SSREs which target the neurotransmitter serotonin level (one increases its
level and the other decreases it) have been shown to alleviate symptoms of depression!
Also, unlike other
modern medicines, antidepressants take longer time to show their effects (if at
all). We do not understand why this is so though there are theories that
suggest that the medicines can lead to modifications at the genomic level and
hence the time-delay of their action! Psychiatrists themselves try and
experiment with different class of medicines to see the best fit for their
patients. But in doing so not only crucial time is lost, there are issues leading to patient compliance and severe
side effects and even death (suicide).
The need of the hour is
therefore to use modern genomic data to predict the outcome of these
medications before embarking on the prescription. As 'mind' is unique to every individual, this is a fit case where the newer field of 'personalized medicine' should kick in with all its technology in its arsenal.We have already started doing
the same for oncology drugs with newer drugs being accompanied by companion
diagnostic tests. Also, the drug companies need to be more transparent with their
data of the side effects of anti-depressants as it has been found of late that
many pharma companies did not divulge the true nature of the side effects and
later the drugs had a serious ramifications on the patients’ health and many of
them were either withdrawn or were forced to have ‘black box’ label warnings!
