Antidepressants

Abstract

Antidepressants elevate pathologically depressed mood. Some agents may increase activity or dampen psychomotor restlessness. They can provide relief for those suffering from depressive delusions and may diminish the somatic and vegetative symptoms associated with depression. The term "antidepressants" encompasses a chemically and pharmacologically heterogeneous class of psychopharmacological agents that were originally employed primarily in patients with depressive symptoms, but which today find widespread therapeutic application in areas other than depressive disorders. These agents are thus also employed with clinical success in obsessive-compulsive disorder, in generalized anxiety, panic, phobic and eating disorders, as well as in the therapy of mutism and ADHD.