RT Journal
A1 Mendels J, Ramsey T, Dyson WL, Frazer A
T1 LIthium as an antidepressant
JF Archives of General Psychiatry
JO Archives of General Psychiatry
YR 1979
FD July 20
VO 36
IS 8
SP 845
OP 846
DO 10.1001/archpsyc.1979.01780080019004
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1979.01780080019004
AB Evidence has been accumulating from several sources in support of the claim that lithium is an effective antidepressant in a subgroup of depressed patients. The acceptance of this has been somewhat impaired by the availability of the tricyclic compounds that are relatively effective in a much larger number of depressed patients. Further, lithium's clear antimanic action has prompted resistance to the implications that a single compound is both antidepressant and antimanic.The evidence for lithium's antidepressant action derives from 12 controlled studies that have been conducted in nine different centers (Table). Three of these1-3 concluded that lithium was not an antidepressant, while the remaining nine4-11 all reported a significant antidepressnat effect. These studies have been reviewed in detail else-where.10,12,13Also listed in this table is the most recent study from our group (T. A. Ramsey, MD, W. Dyson, MD, J. Mendels, MD, et al; unpublished findings, 1978), a single-blind study in