Intrusive thought
Antidepressants which have been shown to be effective in treating OCD include fluvoxamine (trade name Luvox), fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil), citalopram (Celexa), and clomipramine (Anafranil). Although SSRIs are known to be effective for OCD in general, there have been fewer studies on their effectiveness for intrusive thoughts. A retrospective chart review of patients with sexual symptoms treated with SSRIs showed the greatest improvement was in those with intrusive sexual obsessions typical of OCD. A study of ten patients with religious or blasphemous obsessions found that most patients responded to treatment with fluoxetine or clomipramine. Women with postpartum depression often have anxiety as well, and may need lower starting doses of SSRIs; they may not respond fully to the medication, and may benefit from adding cognitive behavioral or response prevention therapy.
History of electroconvulsive therapy in the United States
Antidepressants are considered a first line treatment for depression. While these medications are assessable to most, and effective enough to reduce clinical manifestations and increase quality of life for many suffering from depression, they are often not effective for severe depression and they come with a large array of side effects. There are multiple types of antidepressant medications: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), noradrenaline uptake inhibitors (NRIs), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), as well as tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants, all of which have a different list of unpleasant side effects.