Popular Antidepressants: How They Stack Up

 

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To rate the 12 antidepressants studied, researchers used two separate measures. The first was efficacy -- or how likely patients were to experience the desired effects of the drug. The second was acceptability -- the likelihood that a patient would continue using a drug for the duration of the study (it is generally assumed that a high ratio of patients dropping out indicates the presence of undesirable side effects for a drug).

Efficacy:

1) Mirtazapine (Remeron)

2) Escitalopram (Lexapro)

3) Venlafaxine (Effexor)

4) Sertraline (Zoloft)

5) Citalopram (Celexa)

6) Buproprion (Wellbutrin)

7) Paroxetine (Paxil)

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A study set out to rank the top 12 antidepressants in terms of efficacy and likely side effects.

8) Milnacipran (Savella)

9) Fluoxetine (Prozac)

10) Duloxetine (Cymbalta)

11) Fluvoxamine (Luvox)

12) Reboxetine (Vestra)

Acceptability:

1) Sertraline (Zoloft)

2) Escitalopram (Lexapro)

3) Buproprion (Wellbutrin)

4) Citalopram (Celexa)

5) Fluoxetine (Prozac)

6) Milnacipran (Savella)

7) Mirtazapine (Remeron)

8) Venlafaxine (Effexor)

9) Paroxetine (Paxil)

10) Duloxetine (Cymbalta)

11) Fluvoxamine (Luvox)

12) Reboxetine (Vestra)

Source: Cipriani et al, "Comparative efficacy and acceptability of 12 new-generation antidepressants: a multiple-treatments meta-analysis." Lancet (2009).