Depression is increasingly common amongst adults, with up to 10% of the English population experiencing it in their lifetime (McManus et al., 2009).
Often people living with depression have disabilities extending beyond their emotions and mood. There are many cognitive difficulties associated with depression, such as impaired episodic, verbal and working memory, as well as in other executive function domains (Hammar, 2009). Whilst there is evidence to suggest that antidepressants can reduce symptoms of depression for many people, the effects of antidepressants on these cognitive impairments are less understood.
A recent large-scale randomised longitudinal study aimed to uncover whether antidepressant drug treatment for depressed participants helped reduce these cognitive domain deficits associated with depression.