Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast.

My name is Tom, and in this episode, we're going to be talking about antidepressants.

And you can find written notes on this topic at zero to finals.com slash antidepressants, in the psychiatry section of the 0-2-finals

more medicine book. So let's get straight into it. The main types of antidepressants are

selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors or SSRIs, serotonin and norepine-reepine re-uptake inhibitors, or SNRIs,

tricyclic antidepressants, or TCA's, and other types, for example, metasopine and vortyoxetine.

Let's talk about the mechanism of action.

Neurones, which are nerve cells, communicate with each other at connections called synapses.

Each neuron is connected to many other neurons via these synapses.

The synapse is found at the end of one neuron at the axon terminal

and at the start or the dendrite of another neuron.

The axon terminal releases chemicals called neurotransmitters,

for example dopamine, serotonin, noradrenaline, and gamma

aminobuteric acid, or GABA. This neurotransmitter crosses the synapse and stimulates receptors on

the post-synaptic membrane, creating a response in the neuron.

Once this stimulation occurs, the neurotransmitter is returned to the axon terminal of the

original neuron, and this is called re-uptake.

Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, work by blocking the re-uptake of serotonin re-uptake inhibitors or SSRIs work by blocking the re-uptake of serotonin

by the presynaptic membrane on the axon terminal.

This results in more serotonin in the synapses throughout the central nervous system,

boosting the communication between neurons.

Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, or SNRIs, work by blocking the reuptake of

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