MEDICATION GUIDES
Seven medication guides, explained without shortcuts.
Plain-language guides to SSRIs, SNRIs, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, ADHD medications, anxiolytics, and hypnotics: what they may change, what improvement can look like, and which risks deserve a real conversation with a prescriber.
These guides describe patterns across a drug class, not a prediction for one person. Benefits, side effects, interactions, and tapering needs vary by medication, dose, health history, and other treatments. Never start, stop, or change a psychiatric medication without the prescribing clinician.
EVIDENCE REVIEW
SEPTEMBER 24, 2026
Medication Profiles
The class guides below describe patterns across a whole family of medicines. The profiles go the other way — one medicine at a time, in depth.
PROFILE 01Sertraline Sertraline (Zoloft), an SSRI and one of the most widely prescribed antidepressants in the United States: how it works, the first month week by week, and the side effects people actually ask about.Read the profile
PROFILE 02Bupropion Bupropion (Wellbutrin), the antidepressant that works on dopamine and norepinephrine — not serotonin: how it works, its immediate-, sustained-, and extended-release forms, the seizure warning stated plainly, and the first weeks.Read the profile
Antidepressants
GUIDE 03Mood stabilizers Lithium, valproate or divalproex, lamotrigine, and carbamazepine are chemically different medicines grouped by their ability to steady extreme highs and lows.Read the guide
GUIDE 04Antipsychotics First-generation medicines such as haloperidol and newer second-generation medicines such as risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine, aripiprazole, and ziprasidone.Read the guide
GUIDE 05ADHD medications Stimulants and non-stimulants can both reduce core ADHD symptoms. Finding the right family, formulation, and dose is usually a careful trial—not a verdict about the diagnosis or the person.Read the guide
GUIDE 06Anxiolytics Anti-anxiety medicines range from fast-acting benzodiazepines to slower daily options and medicines aimed mainly at physical symptoms. Speed, sedation, dependence risk, and the type of anxiety all matter.Read the guide
GUIDE 07Hypnotics Sleep medicines can help for a limited period or while a longer-term plan takes hold. For chronic insomnia, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia—CBT-I—is the first-line treatment.Read the guide
