Depression

Depression is a clinical illness and is twice as common in people with HIV as in the general population.

Depression can be triggered by illness or social problems, but it is not uncommon for there to be no readily identifiable cause. It is characterised by the presence of most or all of the following symptoms on a daily basis for several weeks: low mood; apathy; poor concentration; irritability; insomnia; early waking or oversleeping; inability to relax; weight gain or weight loss; loss of pleasure in usual activities; feelings of low self-worth; excessive guilt; and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.

If you are diagnosed with depression, your doctor may recommend that you take antidepressant drugs, which relieve the symptoms of depression by altering chemicals in the brain that influence mood and behaviour. They can take several weeks to work and may have side-effects.

Although there are three classes of antidepressant drugs used (tricyclics, MAOIs and SSRIs), it is most likely that you will be offered a drug from the SSRI (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors) class, which includes drugs like fluoxetine (Prozac), as these have fewest side-effects and interactions with other drugs. It is not uncommon for drugs in this class to cause sexual problems. You must not take the herbal antidepressant St John's wort if you are taking a protease inhibitor or an NNRTI.

The amount of time you stay on antidepressants will depend on your individual circumstances, and although you may start to feel better soon after starting to take them, it is recommended that you remain on them for at least three months if it is your first depressive illness, or longer if your depression has recurred.