Antidepressant Drug Therapy: The Role of the New Antidepressants

Three new antidepressants have been marketed in the United States since 1980, and about two dozen more are being evaluated. In a 1983 workshop convened by the National Institute of Mental Health, participants examined the claims made for the newer antidepressants in relation to clinical efficacy, speed of onset, cardiovascular effects, and other adverse reactions. In this summary report of the workshop, primanly covering amoxapine, maprotiline, trazodone, and the investigational drug bupropion, the authors note that none of the new antidepressants demonstrate greater effectiveness than standard tricyclics, although some produce a different profile of side effects. The main benefit of the newer drugs is that they offer new options for the treatment of patients who cannot tolerate side effects of the traditional drugs or have responded unsatisfactorily to them.