Psychiatric Mental Health, part 21: Therapies - Atypical Antidepressants

Hi, I'm Cathy with Level Up RN. In this video, we will be talking about atypical antidepressants. And at the end of the video, I'm going to give you guys a little quiz to test your knowledge of some of the key points I'll be covering in the video. So definitely stay tuned for that. And as always, I will be following along with our Level Up RN Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Flashcards. So if you have our flashcards, go ahead and pull them out so you can follow along with me. There are a number of atypical antidepressants that are used in the treatment of depression. Two very important ones that I would definitely know in nursing school include bupropion, as well as trazodone. So bupropion is used to treat depression. It is also used to help patients stop smoking. So our cool chicken hint that my son actually came up with to help you remember this is: be appropriate and don't smoke. So bupropion works by decreasing reuptake of norepinephrine and dopamine, which increases levels of these neurotransmitters in the brain. Side effects include insomnia, agitation, headache, GI upset, weight loss, as well as an increased risk for seizures. Trazodone is not only used to treat depression, it is often used in the treatment of insomnia. So our cool chicken hint to help you remember this is: trazodone will help you catch some Z's. Trazodone is a serotonin antagonist and reuptake inhibitor. Key side effects include sedation, hypotension, as well as a dry mouth. You will need to teach your patient to avoid alcohol when taking trazodone. And for a dry mouth, your patient can chew gum or suck on hard candy.

All right. It's quiz time. Are you guys ready? Question number one. What key medication is used to treat depression and is used to help individuals stop smoking? The answer is bupropion. Question number two. Key side effects of bupropion include agitation and insomnia. True or false? The answer is true. Question number three. A key side effect of trazodone is insomnia. True or false? The answer is false. Trazodone is actually used to treat insomnia, and sedation is a key side effect. Okay. That is it for this video. I hope it was helpful. Take care and good luck with studying.