People gain weight on psychiatric medication due to increases in appetite and craving for carbohydrate rich food, decreased physical activity due to sedating effects of the medication, and changes in metabolism. Types of Psychiatric Medications There are four main types of psych meds. They are antidepressants, antipsychotics, sleeping pills and minor tranquilizers, and lithium and other mood stabilizers. We’ll give a brief definition of each of the types. Antidepressants are psychiatric drugs that are licensed to treat depression, sometimes they are also used to treat anxiety disorders, phobias, or things like long term pain. Antidepressants work by boosting the activity of particular brain chemicals. This includes noradrenaline and serotonin, neurotransmitters…