As a psychiatrist, I always consider the possibility of a drug side effect as a cause of one of the most common mental disorders I see: depression.

There’s a 15 percent chance that a person will develop clinical depression requiring medical intervention at some point in his or her life. A larger proportion develop less severe depression symptoms. Medicines for a variety of conditions can contribute to depression symptoms.

For example, a very common asthma medication, montelukast (Singulair), has been reported to not only cause depression and anxiety, but also suicidal thinking.

Certain acne treatments — such as isotretinoin (Accutane) — contain retinoic acid, an ingredient that also may lead to depression symptoms.

Other medicines that have been reported to occasionally cause such symptoms include:

• Varenicline (Chantix) helps people who want to stop smoking. Potential mental side effects include hostility, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thinking.

• Propranolol hydrochloride (Inderal), a beta-blocker blood pressure medication, can contribute to depressive symptoms.

• Contraceptives including those delivered by vaginal ring or patch can lead to depression.

 • Corticosteroids have been reported to cause not only depression, but also anxiety, panic attacks, and psychosis.

• Vigabatrin is an anticonvulsant medication that may cause depression, irritability, and psychosis.