ABSTRACT
Depression is a disorder of mood, varying from a mild normal reaction to life's vicissitudes, requiring a sympathetic ear, through moderate depression which may respond best to brief psychotherapy, to severe, clinical depression with a strong risk of suicide. Antidepressants are of little value in acute or mild depression, where brief psychotherapy is often very effective. Antidepressants are clearly indicated in severe depression, where psychotherapy and drug treatment are complementary, each increasing the effect of the other. There are three groups of classical antidepressant: tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and eversible monoamine oxidase-A inhibitor. Some patients have a manic-depressive (bipolar) illness, with mood swinging from periods of extreme euphoria to periods of severe depression. In bipolar illness, lithium acts as a 'mood stabiliser', that is it reduces the amplitude of mood swings, removing the extreme euphoria and the severity of depression.
