Prozac Options

Well, my girlfriend's psychiatrist prescribed her Prozac. She definitely doesn't seem depressed at all. She doesn't think so either. She's one of the happiest people I know. Anyway, I read up on Prozac, and it sounds dangerous. Does anyone know what the effects of Prozac are on a person who is not depressed? Thanks!

Actually, the side-effect profile of Prozac is quite mild, which is why it's often prescribed before other, similar drugs.

It belongs to the family of medicine known as SSRIs (or Selective Serotonin Re-Uptake Inhibitors), which affect the chemistry of the brain by increasing its receptivity to the natural neurotransmitter serotonin. People who aren't depressed are already sensitive to serotonin, so such drugs will simply have no effect. This is a lot more complex than simply flooding the brain with "happy chemicals" (which is what certain recreational drugs do), and the associated mood changes - if there are any - are accordingly more subtle. They certainly don't act like 'uppers' or get you high, otherwise people would have found a way of dealing them illegally by now.

There's an article about them on Wikipedia, but it's quite technical.

Hope this helps.