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Pharmacological therapy of dysthymia
Author(s) -
Lapierre Y. D.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1994.tb05882.x
Subject(s) - moclobemide , placebo , ritanserin , pharmacotherapy , tricyclic , antidepressant , tricyclic antidepressant , psychology , medicine , psychiatry , antagonist , pharmacology , receptor antagonist , alternative medicine , anxiety , receptor , pathology
For a number of years, dysthymia was considered to be non‐responsive to antidepressant treatment. During the last decade, early studies with tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) demonstrated the superiority of the TCAs over placebo. The side effect profile of the TCAs and the moderate degree of symptomatology resulted in reduced compliance and thus to the clinical impression of lack of efficacy. The newest generation of antidepressants, the SRRIs and the RIMAs. with their more acceptable side effect profiles, allowed for the adequate evaluation of pharmacotherapy in dysthymia. The initial open studies with SSRIs indicate a clear efficacy of this group of antidepressants. Likewise, a 5HT 2 antagonist, ritanserin, has been shown to be superior to placebo. More recently, a large placebo‐controlled study of moclobemide. a RIMA, clearly demonstrated the superiority of this drug over placebo. Based on this evidence, it is now appropriate to consider antidepressants as a clearly effective method of treating dysthymia.