what do different classes of mood meds do (SSRIs, MAOIs, etc) and what are they primarily used to treat?
In: Chemistry
This is a pretty broad question so kinda difficult to explain within the limits of ELI5. But, different “mood meds” target different receptors and that’s how they get their different functions. Some target the receptors themselves, while others are more 2nd order and target mechanisms that increase or decrease the amount of neurotransmitter that binds to the receptor.
“mood med” is not really a term used in medicine. When talking about primary mood disorders, the common ones are major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder.
There are antidepressants (e.g. SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, TCAs), which are used to treat depression. Broadly speaking these target serotonin to increase receptor activation.
There are mood stabilizers (lithium and certain anti-seizure medications), which are used to treat bipolar disorder. These have varied mechanisms that generally increase GABA levels, which decreases brain excitation, or decrease glutamate, which does the opposite. For lithium, it’s not 100% clear how it works.
Antipsychotics (e.g. quetiapine) may be used during episodes of acute mania in bipolar disorder. These work by stopping the effects of dopamine at certain receptors.
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