Are There Any Prescribed Medications That Increase My Risk Of Becoming Depressed (E.G., The Pill, Accutane, Steroids)?

— -- Question: Are there any prescribed medications that increase my risk of becoming depressed?

Answer: What we are realizing now is that there are a number of classes of medications that might increase ones risk for depression or even suicide. Examples of drugs that the FDA has recently become concerned with and has added warnings to are drugs used to treat acne -- such as Acutane -- drugs used to treat high cholesterol levels -- such as Vytorin -- drugs that are used to treat inflammation and certain types of cancers -- for example, interferon -- as well as drugs that are used to treat certain types of allergies or breathing problems, such as steroids. I think steroids are amongst the best studied class of drugs that have been proven to cause depression if used for long periods of time in high doses.

Therefore it's very important if you are taking medications and you experience a reduction in your mood, depression, irritability, negative thoughts, always make sure that you talk to your physician about it.

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