In regard to heath, the disease of HIV can devour a whole civilization within a decade or two. To save the human civilization from this evil spell there is a need for thorough examination and also efficient treatment. Now, here lies the problem. It has been found that people suffering from HIV do go through depression and are found to be less likely to stick with their treatment regimens. So long the medical practitioners were facing this huge problem.

But from now they can have a sigh of relief, with the application of the widely used selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants, they can be brought to the right track. It has been learnt that a team from Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif, comprised of eminent researchers did analyze the mental health, disease progression and treatment data of almost 3,400 HIV-infected patients nationwide. All patients were starting a new, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). What did they find was that almost half of the study participants (42 percent) had depression during the 12-month study.

What is more, the depressed persons were found to be less interested in taking their medications and for that had worse viral response than people who were not depressed. But when these very patients were found to take prescribed SSRIs, that included drugs such as Celexa, Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft — they had the same health outcomes as patients who were not depressed.

Speaking on this, Dr. Michael A. Horberg, Director of HIV/AIDS for Kaiser Permanente said, “The take-home point of this study is that depression carries a worse prognosis for HAART in HIV patients. However, we also found that SSRIs can reverse this and improve outcomes for HIV-depressed patients. HIV and depression often go hand in hand. If you are HIV-infected, you should be screened regularly for depression, and if you are depressed, and you are going to go on HAART, it’s very worthwhile to treat your depression.”