Week 9: Psychotropic Drugs 1 – Drugs for Depression and Anxiety Disorder
Weekly Learning Outcomes
Be able to:
- outline the symptoms, prevalence and diagnostic criteria for major depression and anxiety
- describe the monoamine, stress and neuroplasticity theories for the pathogenesis of depression
- describe the main mechanisms proposed to be responsible for the delayed onset action of antidepressant drugs
- describe the mechanisms of action, and compare the main adverse effects and precautions associated with the different classes of antidepressant drugs and drugs for anxiety
- outline the main principles of drug therapy for major depression and anxiety.