Medications that treat depression by altering chemical levels in the brain to improve mood and mental function.
From 'anti-' (against) + 'depressant' (something that depresses mood). The term emerged in the 1950s after the first antidepressant drugs were developed.
The first accidental antidepressant discovery came from a tuberculosis drug in the 1950s—a patient started getting happier—leading to the 'monoamine hypothesis' that revolutionized psychiatry and proved that brain chemistry directly controls mood.
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