Can you work taking antidepressants?

People who take antidepressants can work, as long as they are fit. It is necessary that they be evaluated by a professional who corroborates it. It is believed that the intake of medications such as antidepressants impair the work performance of the human being, but that will depend on the particular case of each person.

Many people take antidepressants to improve their mood, encourage positive thinking, and improve performance at work. However, there is some controversy about whether someone taking antidepressants can perform their job duties normally. To resolve these doubts, in this Psychology-Online article, we will explain if it can work taking antidepressants.

Index

1. Can I work if I am taking antidepressants?
2. Why it is better not to work taking antidepressants
3. What happens if I take antidepressants for a long time while I work?

People who take antidepressants can work, as long as they are fit for it. To determine it,

In this sense, the possibility of working while taking antidepressants will be determined by the following factors:

• performance level: it is necessary to determine if the person can respond to the labor instructions in a timely manner. Sometimes you can work taking antidepressants, and other times the tasks cannot be assumed by the patient, because their reactions to the stimuli are not in accordance with the times requested by a job. Inevitably, this negatively affects job performance.
• medication dosage: If the intake of medication is excessive, it can cause harmful effects, such as fatigue, lack of concentration, attention, memory or physical slowness, among others. As a general feature, the side effects negatively affect the person's job performance.
• environmental variables: come to be the situations that the person is experiencing at the moment in which they take antidepressants. If you are going through a very stressful time, it is important to evaluate whether it is compatible with the work activity. Some examples could be traffic accidents that affect speech and memory, family losses, love breakups, suicidal ideas or catastrophic thoughts, among others.

In some serious cases, the idea of ​​not working while taking antidepressants may be the best option, however, it is important to take into account the following parameters to make the most appropriate decision. correct:

• Medication is not a definitive solution: Psychiatric medication helps combat the symptoms of mental illness such as depression, but it does not solve the problems of a person's daily life. For this reason, if you have depression, it is preferable to first address the problem before returning to work.
• Ability to cope with work demands decreases: Working on antidepressants can be difficult, because the demands of the job can be difficult to cope with. The day-to-day routine can be full of needs that must be resolved as soon as possible, and if the person is not capable of giving an answer according to the time and manner required, difficulties may arise in the field of job.

Beyond the aspects discussed, it is necessary for the person taking antidepressants to be under psychological and psychiatric treatment, since mental health professionals are the best qualified to assess whether or not taking antidepressants can work. In this article you will find more information about whether a person with a mental illness can work.

Taking antidepressants for long periods of time can cause harmful side effects for the central nervous system. In turn, your emotions, thoughts and behaviors can also be affected. Therefore, taking antidepressants for a long time harms the body and causes problems. Next, we will talk about the effects of taking antidepressants for a long time while you work:

• Sleep disturbances, insomnia and hypersomnia.
• Eating dysregulations, loss or increase in appetite.
• Constant mood swings.
• Unstable job performance.
• Low self-esteem.
• Lack of control.
• Anxiety.
• Distress.

Taking antidepressants should be supervised by a mental health professional. In addition, it is necessary to know that this type of medication can cause physical and mental dependency. In other words, it could happen that the belief is installed that it is not possible to work without taking antidepressants. If this were the case, it will be necessary to work with the therapist on this point so that the person becomes independent of the antidepressants. In this article you will see how to stop antidepressants.

This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Can you work taking antidepressants?, we recommend that you enter our category of Clinical psychology.

• Heerlin, A. (2002). Antidepressant pharmacological treatments. Chilean Journal of Neuropsychiatry, 40 (1), 21-45.
• Vergel Hernández, J., Barrera Robledo, M.E. (2021). Management of depressive disorder. Risaralda Medical Journal, 27 (1), 85-91.