SSRIs work well in treating depression. They are used to treat symptoms by balancing the chemicals in the brain responsible for depression. They work as well as another group of antidepressants called tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), and a psychological treatment called cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). Each of these treatments has an improvement rate of 50-60%.

Six of them exist: fluvoxamine, fluoxetine, paroxetine, sertraline, citalopram and escitalopram oxalate.

Some market names for these drugs are Prozac, Fontex, Celexa, Cipramil, Fevarin, Fluoxetine, Fluvoxamine, Paxil, Remeron, Seroscand, Seroxat and Zoloft.