Do Your Meds Cause Depression?

One-third of US adults may unknowingly use medications that can cause depression
JAMA

Seattle went from low 40s and raining last week to high 60s and windy, causing my allergies to get bad enough to actually make me wish for rain. Apparently I’m not alone either, as the two nearest drug stores are sold out of Claritin. So I’ve settled on Benadryl, and the unwelcome fatigue that tags along.

Luckily, Benadryl was not mentioned in today’s study which lists over 200 commonly prescribed medications that can cause depression or suicide. The list includes a wide variety of drugs like hormonal birth control, blood pressure and heart medications, proton pump inhibitors, antacids, painkillers, and, shockingly, antidepressants.

The study

Researchers wanted to know how frequently US adults use prescription medications with depression as a potential adverse effect. They also wondered if using multiple of these medications (polypharmacy) was associated with an increased risk of depression. The study included over 26k people, and analyzed 10 years of data.

Results

Taking only one of these meds raised the risk of depression (and suicide) by a somewhat passable 7%. The number jumps, however, to 15% when someone simultaneously used three or more of these medications.

It surprises me (although it shouldn’t) to see that drugs with no relation to the brain or to mood were capable of causing mood-related disorders. It also surprises me (again, it shouldn’t) that these drugs don’t come with warning labels, and that doctors often aren’t even aware of the risk or single medications let alone multiple at the same time.

The research team concluded that side effects are real, and that awareness when considering a certain medication is crucial to prevent life-altering complications like depression.

Hat tip to Dr. Kelly Brogan for sharing this research.

TAKEAWAY

Polypharmacy, the simultaneous use of multiple drugs, can lead to depressive symptoms. Patients and health care pros need to be aware of the risk of depression that comes with all kinds of commonly prescription drugs from antacids to antidepressants.