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Can anti-depressants change more than your mood? Can they actually change who you are? A new study says yes.
Roughly 7 percent of American adults have depression severe enough to take anti-depressants. The hope, of course, is that the medicine will counteract the down effects of the depression, bringing the patient back “up” to his or her normal level. It is seen primarily as a chemical balancing, much like insulin balances a diabetic’s blood sugar.
But now comes a research study of 240 adults that finds that important personality changes also take place in many patients who take antidepressants, including an increase in extrovert behavior and a decrease in neurotic behaviors.
The patients became more confident, outgoing and optimistic even after they stop the anti-depressants.
Neuroticism and extroversion are two of the five traits thought to define personality and shape a person’s behavior and daily thoughts (the other three are conscientiousness, agreeability and openness to experience). Previously, it was thought to be very difficult to change any of these traits.
From the Los Angeles Times:
“The findings are striking, researchers said, because psychologists have long thought that such fundamental traits are moorings of an adult's personality that shift very little over a lifetime.
“The medications would seem to relieve depression by chemically altering brain processes that spawn negative thoughts rather than just alleviating symptoms associated with a depressed state, said Northwestern University psychologist Tony Z. Tang, the lead author of the study.
“The findings, published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry and funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, could have significant implications for depression treatment, researchers not connected with the study said.
“It is unclear how long-lasting the changes in personality are, the authors said. But the study found that patients whose personalities shifted the most were less likely to relapse. And they said that monitoring those altered traits could be a useful, early gauge of whether a medication is working and how probable a recurrence would be.”
The study compared the effectiveness of medication and cognitive behavior therapy in 240 people. Half took the SSRI Paxil (paroxetine) for 16 weeks. A fourth received cognitive therapy for 16 weeks, and a fourth were given a placebo. Patients who reported improvement in their depression were then followed for a year.
All the groups reported some improvements. But the changes in neurotic behavior and extroverted behavior were reported at a higher rate in the group taking the paroxetine than either of the other groups.
Why is this important? Because changes in these aspects of a person’s personality could help prevent future depressions.
From U.S. News & World Report:
“Extraversion, which is associated with positive emotions, is believed to help protect from depression, while neuroticism, the tendency to experience negative emotions and emotional instability, is thought to contribute to depression.
“Becoming more extraverted and less neurotic may help prevent a relapse of depression, said lead study author Tony Tang, an adjunct professor of psychology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
"People's personalities actually do change and quite substantially when they go through these antidepressant treatments," Tang said. "In the past, we tended to dismiss the personality changes as a side effect or something not very important. But our study suggests it's actually very important to treatment outcomes."
Do you have depression? A PsychCentral.com screening test:
http://psychcentral.com/depquiz.htm
EmpowHer has an excellent page on depression:
https://www.empowher.com/media/reference/depression#definition
The Los Angeles Times story:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-antidepressants8-2009dec08,0,433635.story
The U.S. News & World Report story:
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/12/07/antidepressants-may-change-your--personality.html
The Archives of General Psychiatry:
http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/66/12/1322
Add a Comment1 Comments
Antidepressants can be dangerous for some people, though.
The Physicians Desk Reference states that SSRI antidepressants and all antidepressants can cause mania, psychosis, abnormal thinking, paranoia, hostility, etc. These side effects can also appear during withdrawal. Also, these adverse reactions are not listed as Rare but are listed as either Frequent or Infrequent.
Go to www.SSRIstories.com where there are over 3,400 cases, with the full media article available, involving bizarre murders, suicides, school shootings/incidents [51 of these] and murder-suicides - all of which involve SSRI antidepressants like Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, etc, . The media article usually tells which SSRI antidepressant the perpetrator was taking or had been using.
December 8, 2009 - 10:50amThis Comment