Antidepressants Can Change Personalities

[Analog]

Taking an antidepressant can lead to significant personality changes, likely for the better, a new study finds.
The study looked at the effects of taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which are widely used to treat depression today, and found that those who took these antidepressants experienced more positive emotions, were more outgoing and more emotionally stable in the long-term.
"Our findings lead us to propose a new model of antidepressant mechanism," said Tony Z. Tang of Northwestern University in Chicago. "Our data suggests that modern antidepressants work partly by correcting key personality risk factors of depression."
Neuroticism and extroversion
Tang and colleagues studied the effects of the SSRI paroxetine (Paxil and Seroxat) as compared to a placebo in a trial involving 240 adults with major depressive disorder.
Those taking the paroxetine showed substantial improvements in their depression compared to those taking a placebo, as has been shown in many other studies. But the SSRI-takers also saw a significant decrease in neuroticism and an increase in extroversion compared to those taking the placebo.
Neuroticism and extraoversion are two fundamental parts of human personalities. Neuroticism refers to a tendency to experience negative emotions and emotional instability, whereas extroversion refers not only to socially outgoing behavior but also to dominance and a tendency to experience positive emotions.
Recent research has found that neuroticism is a key risk factor of depression, and that there is substantial overlap in the genes associated with high neuroticism and the genes associated with depression.
Both neuroticism and extraversion are associated with the brain's serotonin system, which is targeted by SSRI antidepressants.
Sixty-nine of the original 120 people who took paroxetine followed up with researchers for one year. The changes in levels of neuroticism and extroversion before and after treatment for those antidepressant users were compared to placebo patients who showed the same amount of improvement in their depression symptoms. The study found that there was 6.8 times as much change on neuroticism and 3.5 times as much change on extroversion in those who took paroxetine as in placebo patients.


http://www.livescience.com/health/091207-antidepressant-personality.html

 

[darkswordsman17]

Copy and paste fail.

Isn't changing personality the entire point of those? Of course, I think this is meaning a permanent/long-term change. Hmm, ok, this still seems like captain obvious stuff. I would hope people taking anti-depressants would be more positive, especially if, you know, they're still taking them. Basically, this is just validating that anti-depressants (or at least the two cited in the study) actually work? I bet Matt Lauer would like to show someone this study.

 

[Locut0s]

Fear mongering. The idea that a drug quote "changes ones personality" is almost entirely a negative conotation. The whole point in saying that is to scare people away from something. Yet the changes described are exactly those that are intended by the drug. I've been taking SSRIs for years and I do indeed feel a bit better on them ( not drastically better though). Becoming more outgoing and being hapier is the whole point. This is like saying that Tylenol "fundamentally changes neuron firing paterns" well yeah it's releaving the pain you mean!!

 

[darkswordsman17]

Fear mongering. The idea that a drug quote "changes ones personality" is almost entirely a negative conotation. The whole point in saying that is to scare people away from something. Yet the changes described are exactly those that are intended by the drug. I've been taking SSRIs for years and I do indeed feel a bit better on them ( not drastically better though). Becoming more outgoing and being hapier is the whole point. This is like saying that Tylenol "fundamentally changes neuron firing paterns" well yeah it's releaving the pain you mean!!

How is it fear mongering when its a positive result? I don't really see any negative connotation used. Basically they're just verifying that these drugs in fact do what they're supposed to. It doesn't delve into side effects and if they are worth it, or should be used, as that's obviously situation dependent. Seems to me that this is yet another wasted study. Its good to have that verified, but this is stuff that should have been done before use of these drugs became widespread.

 

[Locut0s]

How is it fear mongering when its a positive result? I don't really see any negative connotation used. Basically they're just verifying that these drugs in fact do what they're supposed to. It doesn't delve into side effects and if they are worth it, or should be used, as that's obviously situation dependent. Seems to me that this is yet another wasted study. Its good to have that verified, but this is stuff that should have been done before use of these drugs became widespread.

I am specifically talking just about the use of the phrase "changing ones personality". I'm not saying that the study was bad or should not have been done. It's good such studies are done. But people who are going on these drugs often worry very specifically that the drugs will "change their personalities" using that exact phrase. That exact phrase is a commonly heard fear, I don't want to take it cause it could "change my personality". They fear that they will not be themselves anymore. So it's a bad phrase to use in such a story, especially one confirming the benefits of the drug.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I am specifically talking just about the use of the phrase "changing ones personality". I'm not saying that the study was bad or should not have been done. It's good such studies are done. But people who are going on these drugs often worry very specifically that the drugs will "change their personalities" using that exact phrase. That exact phrase is a commonly heard fear, I don't want to take it cause it could "change my personality". They fear that they will not be themselves anymore. So it's a bad phrase to use in such a story, especially one confirming the benefits of the drug.

Ok, I get that now, just seemed weird how you phrased it (putting fear-mongering as a single statement). Yeah, people don't realize that everyone is constantly under the influence of something. The concept of personality is even up for debate, as we are ever changing beings. I get the studying to see if it changes personality, but since they isolated the study, its the type of one you'd expect to see early on in the trials of a new drug.

 

[sandorski]

I have a friend who attempted suicide and was put on an Anti-Depressant. It changed his personality, for the better. He was mildly BiPolar and didn't know it, now he has become much more stable.