Antidepressants
Animal Facts
Antipsychotics
Mood Stabilizers
Animal Facts 2
100
How many weeks does it usually take for an antidepressant to start working?
4-6 weeks
100
This slow moving animal lives in trees and moves about 1 foot per minute
Sloth.
Roughly 1 foot per minute is the standard figure for a three-toed sloth on the move. They're much faster in water — swimming is about the only thing they do quickly.
100
Antipsychotics can generally be separated into these two categories
Typical or atypical
First or second generation
First generation are the older ones. They work mainly on one brain chemical (dopamine) and are more likely to cause stiff or shaky muscles.
Second generation are the newer ones. They work on dopamine and serotonin.
100
When do we use mood stabilizers?
Bipolar disorder: To help prevent mania and depression
100
This desert predator's roar can be heard from 5 miles away
Lion
200
This antidepressant is more commonly used for sleep than depression
Trazodone
Doctors usually give it in a small dose to help people fall asleep. It takes a much bigger dose to help with depression. So most people taking trazodone are taking it just for sleep.
200
This bird cannot fly but is a very fast runner
Ostrich.
It can hit about 45 mph in a sprint and hold roughly 30 mph over distance — the fastest bird on land and the fastest two-legged animal, period. Each stride can cover 10 to 16 feet.
200
True or false: antipsychotics are only used for schizophrenia
False
Schizophrenia is just one thing they're used for. Doctors also use them for bipolar disorder, for depression that isn't getting better on its own, and sometimes for bad agitation or trouble sleeping.
200
Name a mood stabilizer
Lithium,
Depakote (valproate)
Tegretol (carbamazepine)
Trileptal (oxcarbazepine)
Lamictal (lamotrigine)
200
This group of birds all together is called a pandemonium
Parrots
300
Medications like Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil belong to this class of antidepressants
SSRIs
That stands for "selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors." Serotonin is a chemical in your brain that helps you feel good. These medicines help keep more of it around instead of letting the brain soak it back up too fast.
300
Which Australian animal is known to glow in the dark?
Platypus. Its fur fluoresces blue-green under UV light.
300
Medications like Haldol, Prolixin, Thorazine and Navane are this type of antipsychotic
Typical or first generation
300
What is considered to be the gold standard mood stabilizer for bipolar disorder?
Lithium
300
This fox is known to use its fluffy tail as a blanket when it sleeps
Arctic Fox
400
Bupropion is used to treat depression and also to kick this habit
Smoking
Bupropion helps people quit cigarettes. When it's used for that, it goes by the name Zyban. It cuts down the urge to smoke and makes quitting feel less rough.
400
This insect can jump more than 200 times its body length
Flea.
A flea can jump roughly 200 times its body length — around 8 inches vertically and a foot horizontally from a body about 2–3 mm long. It uses a spring-loaded protein called resilin in its legs, which stores and releases energy far faster than muscle alone could.
400
Medications like Risperdal, Zyprexa, Clozaril, Latuda and Abilify are this type of antipsychotic
Atypical or second generation
400
What other condition can we sometimes use mood stabilizers for?
Seizures
400
A group of porcupines is called a:
Prickle
A Prickle- Note: Porcupines are solitary and rarely gather in groups.
500
Most antidepressants work on this neurotransmitter
Serotonin
It's one of the chemical messengers your brain cells use to talk to each other. Most antidepressants work by keeping more serotonin floating around between those cells.
500
This animal can go up to two weeks without drinking water
Camel.
It can go about two weeks without drinking, then take on 20–30 gallons in a few minutes. The hump stores fat, not water
500
What are common antipsychotic side effects?
- Sleepiness — feeling tired or foggy
- Weight gain — feeling hungrier and putting on pounds
- Stiff or shaky muscles — trouble sitting still, slow movements, tremors
- Dizziness when standing up — blood pressure drops for a second
- Dry mouth and constipation
- Blood sugar and cholesterol going up over time
500
This side effect of lithium may make you want to drink more water
Increased thirst (polydipsia)
500
This frog that lives in Alaska spends 7 months of the year frozen
Wood Frog: It lets up to 65% of its body water turn to ice over winter — heart stopped, no breathing, no brain activity — while flooding its cells with glucose and urea as antifreeze to keep them from rupturing. In spring it thaws out and the heart restarts on its own.