While psychiatric medications can be essential for improving mental health and well-being, they often come with unwanted side effects. One particular side effect of many psychiatric medications is weight gain. In this post we will explore how these medications cause weight gain, and what you can do to lessen the impact of this unwanted effect of many psychiatric medications.

What are the different types of psychiatric medications?

There are five main types of psychiatric prescription medications: antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics (also known as anti-anxiety medications, which can include medications for sleep), mood stabilizers, and stimulants. Stimulants are not likely to cause weight gain. In fact, many of them reduce appetite and can cause weight loss as a side effect. These medications will not be discussed in this post.

Antidepressants can be divided into separate classes:

SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, increase serotonin levels in the brain.
SNRIs, or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, increase both serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain.
TCAs, or tricyclic antidepressants, increase serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine in the brain.
MAOIs, or monoamine oxidase inhibitors, increase serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine in the brain.