Depression could be a long-term side effect of 5-alpha reductase inhibitors (Anti-DHT drugs). General risk is increased by 23%, odds by roughly 19% - The older the subjects the more likely side effects would occur…

Biffy Thu Jun 27, 2019 8:30 pm

Depression could be a long-term side effect of anti-DHT drugs with 5-alpha reductase inhibitors. General risk is increased by 23%, odds by roughly 19% - The older the subjects the more likely side effects would occur…

Authors hesitate to make definitive conclusions, though: "Our study shows the quantitative risk of depression after 5-ARI medication using meta-analysis for first time, by which we determined the risk to be not significantly high. However, due to limited included studies, this result has to be interpreted with caution for clinical importance in real practice. However, with this quantitative risk and its direction for depression risk, patients could be better informed during the process of shared decision making. It could also provide useful information to design a future prospective study about this issue."

This is a huge cohort study so yes, this is most likely the case with 5ar inhibitors, It makes sense due to the nature of pregnenolone inhibition and other important factors in neurosteroid production.

Text is taken from Suppversity. Study here: https://europepmc.org/abstract/med/31190484