selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor

The most often prescribed class of antidepressants, used for depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorderobsessive-compulsive disorderob-SES-iv kum-PUL-siv dis-OR-derA mental health condition with unwanted thoughts that keep coming back and actions a person feels driven to repeat.Full entry Close, post-traumatic stress disorderpost-traumatic stress disorderpohst-truh-MAT-ik STRES dis-OR-derA mental health condition that develops after a person lives through or sees a terrifying event.Full entry Close and other conditions. Examples are fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft), paroxetine (Paxil), citalopram (Celexa) and escitalopram (Lexapro). Full benefit usually takes several weeks. Common side effects include nausea, headache, sleep changes and sexual problems.

The boxed warning covers a higher risk of suicidal thoughts in children, teens and young adults, especially in the first weeks and after dose changes: watch closely and teach the family to report changes in mood or behavior. Teach that it may take 2 to 6 weeks to feel better, not to stop suddenly, and not to combine it with other drugs that raise serotonin, because of serotonin syndromeserotonin syndromesair-uh-TOH-nin SIN-drohmA drug reaction caused by too much serotonin activity in the nervous system.Full entry Close. ISMP warns against writing SSRI for "sliding scale regular insulin", because it is read as this drug class.