Antidepressant education

Checking for other medicines, including over-the-counter and complementary products, is essential to eliminate possible interactions, and it is sensible to ask if the patient drinks alcohol and provide advice, as appropriate. 

Emphasising that antidepressants are not addictive – while also highlighting the risk of discontinuation symptoms if stopped abruptly – may also be helpful, as is counselling on the risk of drowsiness in the early days of treatment, and the impact this can have on skilled tasks such as driving.

It is also worth explaining to patients that improvement in symptoms may be incremental, so persevering with the tablets to give them a chance to work is important. A gradual lifting of mood can be hard to pinpoint, but patients should slowly begin to feel some improvement. If, after a few weeks, a patient sees no benefit, they can return to the GP and ask to try a different antidepressant.

Find out when the patient is next seeing a health professional – some GPs are very proactive in closely monitoring patients starting antidepressants, while others are more hands-off, and there is a danger that some individuals will slip through the net.

Depending on the answer, pharmacy professionals can ask the patient to check in with them in person or by phone in a few days as this will help them feel that someone is looking out for them and that they are not going through this experience alone. Bear in mind that some people will not tell family members that they have sought help or are being prescribed medicine for a mental health disorder, fearing recriminations or shame. Broadly following the New Medicine Service (NMS) questions has a place here – see Table 1 next.