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Sun 1 May, 2016 09:32 am
What is the difference between depressant and anti-depressant?
I have referred to dictionaries and it seems they are synonymous.
Thanks.
"anti" is a prefix to a word that makes it opposite, for example:
social
anti-social
But your words are a little different:
Alcohol is a depressant. (drug, sedative)
He took anti-depressant pills for two years. (to counteract depression)
They are not synonymous.
depressant
adjective: (chiefly of a drug) reducing functional or nervous activity.
noun: a depressant drug.
antidepressant or anti-depressant
adjective: (chiefly of a drug) used to alleviate depression.
noun: an anti-depressant (or anti-depressant) drug.
@tanguatlay,
Depressants are not anti-depressants. .
But often used as such.
A depressant drug reduces some bodily or nervous activity; an anti-depressant drug is used to treat an illness called depression.
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