Lifestyle Alternatives to Antidepressants

Depression is a common psychiatric disease that particularly affects older adults, at 15-20% of the US population.¹ Yet despite this, a groundbreaking study in 2018 found that only a small fraction of patients diagnosed with depression actually start treatment—approximately one-third.²

Only 1/3 of patients diagnosed with depression start treatment.

For those who do adhere to antidepressant therapies, treatment of the acute phase of major depressive disorder (MDD) led to a greater number of adverse events in patients 65 and over, according to a 2019 systematic review.¹ Antidepressants included in the study were the following:

• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
• Serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)
• Bupropion
• Mirtazapine
• Trazodone
• Vilazodone
• Vortioxetine

Specifically, the reports found that SSRIs and SNRIs led to a greater number of study withdrawals due to adverse events, and duloxetine increased the risk of falls.¹

Non-adherence to antidepressants is also common.³ A 2017 survey found that 68% of the females were non-adherent to their prescribed antidepressant therapy.³ Forgetfulness was the main reason for missing doses. Another study showed that antidepressant non-adherence is common among veterans, with ineffectiveness and side effects as commonly reported reasons.⁴