Zoloft is not habit-forming and is routinely prescribed to treat a wide range of associated conditions in individuals over the age of eighteen years, including the prevention of migraine headaches and, sometimes, some sexual conditions. The most common are:

• Depression — in everyday terms, this describes a transient mood of sadness and despair. In clinical depression, the sadness becomes a more permanent state accompanied by difficulty in concentrating, alienation and social withdrawal, slowed thinking and physical inactivity, sleep and appetite disturbances and, in more extreme cases where guilt and hopelessness build, there may be a risk of suicide.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) — this is an anxiety disorder when the brain fails to regulate the normal worrying function. The result is recurrent, unwanted thoughts (the obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviours (the compulsions). People who suffer from this condition may repeatedly wash their hands, clean their living and work spaces, count the “things” they are using or check that everything is as they expect them to be. This repeated behaviour becomes a set of rituals that have to be performed in the hope that the obsessive thoughts will go away. But experience shows that the rituals only give temporary relief. Equally, not performing the rituals significantly increases the anxiety. As an exception to the general rule forbidding the use of Zoloft in the treatment of children and young adults, children who are aged seven years or more may be given Zoloft under medical supervision for the relief of OCD.
• Panic disorder is a serious condition affecting about 1.3% of the population at some point during their lives. It most commonly appears among teenagers and young adults, probably being linked to stressful life events, although some research evidence suggests a possible genetic predisposition or that you are at greater risk if you are exposed to other family members who have the disorder. The attack itself is a sudden and unexpected sense of fear or terror. There is usually no obvious reason for this degree of alarm. It is usually accompanied by a racing heart, difficulty in breathing, trembling and severe sweating. People describe the sensations as the equivalent of having a heart attack. Some even think they are about to die. The disorder affects more women than men. During more sexist times, this led professionals to dismiss the phenomenon. Today, the disorder is accepted as a serious and disabling condition. Zoloft has been effective as a treatment.
• Post-traumatic stress disorder — when some people are exposed to an extreme mental or physical stress, usually in situations where death or serious injury is threatened (whether to themselves or others), they may become obsessed with the incident, either repeatedly experiencing it or reviewing it to see whether anything better could have been done. It can also be accompanied by a fearful avoidance of any potentially similar situations. Such people may become excessively cautious and overly vigilant. They can find it difficult to sleep and, in turn, become irritable and depressed. Although the disorder is accepted without question in all cases of traumatic injury sustained in accidents and other situations of great physical danger, there is some controversy as to whether it should also apply as the so-called battered partner syndrome where an accumulation of individually small events slowly induces a traumatised state.
• Social anxiety disorder — those who suffer from this disorder have an extreme anxiety that they are being judged by others. This induces a fear of interacting with others. They believe there is a real risk that they might behave in a way that others would find embarrassing or ridiculous. This is particularly the case where the people are required to perform a service for members of the public, e.g. working in shop, restaurant or other environment where interaction with the public is required.
• Pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is similar to pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS), but is a more severe form. It should be said that this link to PMS is controversial because it may be insulting to women to characterise any part of the natural PMS cycle as a disorder or disease. Whatever the rights and wrong, there is no doubt that PMDD is sufficiently serious to warrant treatment. The recurrent symptoms include feelings of sadness, despair or, possibly, suicidal thoughts, panic attacks, mood swings, food cravings or binge eating, insomnia, physical bloating and a tenderness of the breasts.