If you are prescribed a medication, be sure to:

• Tell the doctor about all medications and vitamin supplements you are already taking.
• Remind your doctor about any allergies and any problems you have had with medicines.
• Understand how to take the medicine before you start using it and take your medicine as instructed.
• Don’t take medicines prescribed for another person or give yours to someone else.
• Call your doctor right away if you have any problems with your medicine or if you are worried that it might be doing more harm than good.

What are antidepressants?

Antidepressants are medications commonly used to treat depression. Antidepressants are also used for other health conditions, such as anxiety, pain and insomnia. Although antidepressants are not FDA-approved specifically to treat ADHD, antidepressants are sometimes used to treat ADHD in adults.

What are anti-anxiety medications?

Anti-anxiety medications help reduce the symptoms of anxiety, such as panic attacks, or extreme fear and worry. In the case of panic disorder or social phobia (social anxiety disorder) antidepressants are first-line treatment. Other medications can be given to be used “as needed” for situations where anxiety only occurs on occasion or with certain situations.

What are stimulants?

As the name suggests, stimulants increase alertness, attention, and energy. Stimulant medications are often prescribed to treat children, adolescents, or adults diagnosed with ADHD.

Stimulants are also prescribed to treat other health conditions, including narcolepsy, and occasionally depression (especially in older or chronically medically ill people and in those who have not responded to other treatments).

What are antipsychotics?

Antipsychotic medicines are primarily used to manage psychosis. The word “psychosis” is used to describe conditions that affect the mind, and in which there has been some loss of contact with reality, often including delusions (false, fixed beliefs) or hallucinations (hearing or seeing things that are not really there). Our office does not treat patients with psychosis.

Antipsychotic medications are often used in combination with other medications to treat delirium, dementia, and mental health conditions, including Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), severe depression, eating disorders, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

What are mood stabilizers?

Mood stabilizers are used primarily to treat bipolar disorder, mood swings associated with other mental disorders, and in some cases, to augment the effect of other medications used to treat depression. Mood stabilizers work by decreasing abnormal activity in the brain and are also sometimes used to treat depression (usually along with an antidepressant), schizoaffective disorder, disorders of impulse control, and certain mental illnesses in children.