This is especially a concern if you must take a pre-employment drug screen for a new job.
Never stop taking your antidepressant without talking to your doctor first.
Common Drug Screens
Antidepressants do not show up asantidepressantson standard drug tests.
Kirby Hamilton / Getty Images
The lab would have to do specific additional tests to look for antidepressants.
Certain antidepressant drugs are more prone to false-positive readings.
It is better to declare this before the test rather than after.
Moreover, get a copy of both results to confirm that a different technique was used.
In most cases, any information you share with the tester won’t be included on the result.
All your employer will receive is a list of positive and negative results to the requested drug screens.
This is true even if you are concerned about false positives.
Understanding this possibility is important and will allow you to take steps to minimize this risk.
The best approach is to bring your medications with you to inform the test administrator.
If a false-positive does occur, the medication will already be noted in your record.
Most importantly, never stop taking your medication without talking to your doctor.
Suddenly halting your medication may result in antidepressant withdrawal or the return of depression symptoms.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services.Drug testing.
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