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Antidepressants are often used to treat short term depression symptoms, but their beneficial impacts may have a lasting effect. Adults suffering from depression were less likely to be depressed after eight years of using antidepressants, researchers in Canada say.

Ian Colman, an epidemiologist in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta, and colleagues reviewed data from a longitudinal Canadian study and found patients who used antidepressants are three times less likely to be depressed eight years later, compared to depressed adults who don't use antidepressants.

Research into the effects of antidepressant treatments for individuals with major depression has only concentrated on short-term outcomes and there is limited knowledge about long-term results, Colman says.

"It's more likely that results from the study speak to the importance of getting evidence-based treatment, drugs or other therapies, in the first place and treatments that ensure that all of your symptoms are resolved," Colman says in a statement.

Recent research showed more than 50 percent of people who are depressed are not receiving treatment, possibly because, Colman says, they don't recognize symptoms, don't want treatment or are not getting appropriate treatment due to stigma around mental illness.

"It's more likely that results from the study speak to the importance of getting evidence-based treatment, drugs or other therapies, in the first place and treatments that ensure that all of your symptoms are resolved," Colman says.

The findings are published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

Source: UPI