Antidepressants, especially SSRIs and SNRIs, are routinely prescribed both by psychiatrists and non psychiatrist clinicians to treat a wide range of psychiatric disorders besides depression. These drugs act on serotonin and norepinephrine, and are well absorbed after oral administration. These drugs have comparable efficacy with a 60% overall response rate. Adverse effects occur in a large number of patients. Some of the uncommon but important adverse effects include GI bleeding, sexual dysfunction, hyponatremia and serotonin syndrome. Overall,these drugs are well tolerated and have a favourable side effect profile compared to the older antidepressants. Hence, they have emerged as first line treatment in a variety of disorders.