Taking Antidepressants : Your Comprehensive Guide to Starting, Staying on, and When and How to Safely Quit

Antidepressants are the most commonly prescribed class of medications in this country. Yet, consumers have few available resources to educate them in a fair, balanced fashion about starting and stopping antidepressants. People want to know if antidepressants are really safe, whether they are addictive, and how they may affect their personality. In this book, triple board-certified psychiatrist Dr. Michael Banov walks the reader through a personalized process to help them make the right choice about starting antidepressants, staying on antidepressants, and stopping antidepressants. He includes specific guidelines on how to safely reduce and ultimately stop taking antidepressants, if it is appropriate to do so. Readers will learn how antidepressant medications work, what they may experience while taking them, and will learn how to manage side effects or any residual or returning depression symptoms. Most books on depression take a biased view against antidepressant medication due to perceived dangers; this book finally provides a balanced, research-based resource for consumers who want the facts about taking antidepressants.

Michael Banov, MD, completed his psychiatry training at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and is medical director of Northwest Behavioral Medicine and Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia. He has been a principal investigator in hundreds of psychiatry studies and has published dozens of articles and research papers on the treatment of mental health problems. He is the founder and director of www.psychsource.org, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people find appropriate mental health resources in their area. When not practicing medicine, he is traveling, writing, playing guitar, and practicing martial arts.