Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI's) are commonly used in drug treatment and drug rehabs to help an addict or alcoholic with neuroprotection by promoting the growth of new neural pathways or neurogenesis and enhancing Long Term Potentiation (LTP). SSRI's also may protect against neurotoxicity caused by other compounds (MDMA) as well as from depression itself. SSRI's are also sometimes used "off label" for other disorders, such as anxiety disorders.

One of the frequent concerns people have when they take SSRI's (antidepressants) are "Brain Zaps." Brain Zaps are unique phenomena that happen when people either stop taking antidepressants abruptly, or titrate down on their medication too quickly. Brain Zaps (also called Brain Shocks or Brain Shivers) weren't confirmed till recently in the medical community. Despite the fact that they happen, no one knows why they happen.

Brain Zaps are brief electrical like shocklike sensations in the head. It's as if your heart skips a beat and your brain resets with a light headedness and a deep sound of "Whaw, whaw." They occur in repetition and will dissipate with time or with a little bit of the medication a person stopped taking too abruptly. When they were first noticed to occur no one knew what they were or if they were really happening, but they caused many people on antidepressants to seek medical attention. It is thought that Brain Zaps occur with the antidepressants with shorter half-lifes. The medications with longer half-lifes, like Prozac, do not produce Brain Zaps like the shorter half-life antidepressants often do. It is theorized that Brain Zaps may be cause by the brain's attempt at readjustment.

Brain Zaps can be a little scary and uncomfortable for a person, but there's really nothing to be too concerned about. They just feel really weird and they are nothing like you have probably ever experienced before. They are not painful, just a little strange. Many years ago I experienced Brain Zaps when I was on too low of a dosage of an antidepressant medication. The medication would wear off toward the evening and the Brain Zaps would start happening every once in a while. Back then no one knew what they were so they were even more frightening. But, now that you know, it should lessen the anxiety they often produce in people.

It is important for anyone on antidepressants to let their doctor know when they do want to discontinue their medication, because stopping abruptly can cause withdrawal symptoms like Brain Zaps.

Labels: Antidepressants and Drug Treatment, Brain Zaps and Antidepressants, SSRI's and Drug Rehab