Meaning & use
antidepressant drugs
Last updated
Meanings
nounpluralmedical
Medicines prescribed to treat depression and sometimes anxiety or chronic pain.
Grammar: Usually plural; the singular 'antidepressant drug' names one such medicine.
Patterns
- take antidepressant drugs
- be prescribed antidepressant drugs
- antidepressant drugs for something
Her doctor prescribed antidepressant drugs after she had been depressed for months.
Antidepressant drugs often take several weeks before patients notice any improvement.
Some people need antidepressant drugs only for a short period, while others take them long term.
nounpluralmedical
A group of medicines that lift mood by changing chemicals in the brain.
Grammar: Refers to the whole class of medicines rather than one product.
Patterns
- a class of antidepressant drugs
- respond to antidepressant drugs
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are among the most commonly used antidepressant drugs.
Researchers compared several antidepressant drugs to see which had the fewest side effects.
Word forms
| singular | antidepressant drug |
|---|
Common combinations
- take antidepressant drugs
- He has taken antidepressant drugs for two years.
- be prescribed antidepressant drugs
- She was prescribed antidepressant drugs by her psychiatrist.
- a course of antidepressant drugs
- The doctor recommended a six-month course of antidepressant drugs.
- respond to antidepressant drugs
- About half of patients respond to the first antidepressant drugs they try.
- side effects of antidepressant drugs
- Dry mouth is a common side effect of antidepressant drugs.
Synonyms and how they differ
- antidepressants
- The short everyday form; it means the same but drops the word 'drugs'.
- mood stabilizers
- A different class of medicine used mainly for bipolar disorder, not ordinary depression.
Word family
- antidepressant noun
- One such medicine, or the adjective describing it.
- depression noun
- The illness these drugs are used to treat.
Commonly confused: antidepressant drugs or anti-anxiety drugs?
antidepressant drugs vs anti-anxiety drugs
These calm anxiety or panic; antidepressant drugs mainly treat low mood, though the two groups overlap.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'antidepressant drugs' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Antidepressant drugs treat depression, so option 0 fits. A broken leg, a wound, or a headache calls for other treatments, not this class of medicine.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “antidepressant drugs”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.