title: Depressogenic effects of medications: a review.
abstract: The literature is filled with reports that link medications with the onset or progression of depression. Because depression is so common in patients with medical illness, assessing whether a medication has in fact caused depression, or whether the relationship is coincidental, can be challenging. In this article, we review the literature on the association between medications and depression. For most agents, there are case reports or small studies linking the medication with the onset of depression, but more rigorous prospective studies are either lacking or found no association between the agent and depression. However, several medications, (eg, barbiturates, vigabatrin, topiramate, flunarizine, corticosteroids, mefloquine, efavirenz, and interferon-alpha) do appear to cause depression in some patients and should be used with caution in patients at risk for depression.
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. ccelano@partners.org
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Celano
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Freudenreich
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Robles
authors.forename: Theodore A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.forename: Mario A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Caro
authors.forename: Jeff C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Huffman
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002317:Cardiovascular Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003863:Depression / Q000139:chemically induced*; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D002317:Cardiovascular Agents