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Antidepressants May Lower Driving Skills

Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft May Make Driving Harder

POSTED: 6:13 am PDT August 18, 2008
UPDATED: 6:18 am PDT August 18, 2008

People taking drugs to treat depression drive worse than other people, according to a new report.

Depressed people on antidepressants such as Prozac, Paxil or Zoloft have even more trouble concentrating and reacting behind the wheel, researchers from the University of North Dakota said.

A team of psychologists had 60 people take a driving test in a simulator.

Thirty-one of the participants were taking at least one type of antidepressant while 29 control group members were taking no medications, with the exception of birth-control pills.

"Individuals taking antidepressants should be aware of the possible cognitive effects as (they) may affect performance in social, academic and work settings, as well as driving abilities," the researchers wrote. "However, it appears that mood is correlated with cognitive performance, more so than medication use."

A news release about the research said that antidepressant use in the U.S. tripled in the decade before 2004, and now one in 10 women takes one.

The study about driving was released at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

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