Open AccessAdjunctive Therapy With Second-Generation Antipsychotics: The New Standard for Treatment-Resistant Depression?
Author(s) -
Michael E. Thase
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
focus/focus (american psychiatric publishing. online)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1541-4108
pISSN - 1541-4094
DOI - 10.1176/appi.focus.20150041
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , psychiatry , treatment resistant depression , medicine , adjunctive treatment , major depressive disorder , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , mood , economics , macroeconomics
Depressive episodes that do not respond to at least several adequate courses of standard antidepressants account for a substantial proportion of the socioeconomic and medical burden associated with this common illness. As such, treatment-resistant depression represents both an important public health problem and a great unmet need in psychiatric therapeutics. Among the several "add-on" strategies with established efficacy for treatment-resistant depression, the second-generation antipsychotics have become the most commonly used in psychiatric settings. This article briefly examines the benefits and limitations of adjunctive therapy with second-generation antipsychotics to determine whether these medications are now the standard of comparison for new therapies for treatment-resistant depression.