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DEPRESSION AND ANTIDEPRESSANT USE IN AUSTRALIA
Author(s) -
Alchin Terry,
Tranby Henry
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
australian journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.417
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1839-4655
pISSN - 0157-6321
DOI - 10.1002/j.1839-4655.1995.tb01030.x
Subject(s) - antidepressant , tricyclic , depression (economics) , medical prescription , quarter (canadian coin) , medicine , psychiatry , monoamine oxidase , reuptake inhibitor , pharmacology , chemistry , history , biochemistry , anxiety , archaeology , economics , macroeconomics , enzyme
This article analyses the use of available antidepressants in Australia. Antidepressants include the tricyclic antidepressants, tetracyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors (both reversible and non‐reversible) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. These groups of antidepressants have different properties, different side effects and different therapeutic effects. The total number of prescriptions for antidepressants in Australia remained at around one million per quarter over the period from the third quarter of 1989 to the third quarter of 1993. The impact of the change in the copayment scheme in the second quarter in 1991 is clearly evident. In the proportions of the antidepressant groups used, the tricyclics currently remain the most frequently prescribed at around 80 per cent of alt antidepressant prescriptions but this is a large movement from the 93 per cent late in 1989. This illustrates the important inroads made by the newer antidepressant drugs.