Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T10:37:45.092Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Emergency treatment of depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Richard Porter  and
Nicol Ferrier
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Psychiatric emergencies are common and each case presents particular problems and difficulties. This article focuses on one subset of psychiatric emergencies, that of severe depression, and on the role of and use of antidepressant treatments in these conditions. The clinical situations to be discussed in this article include active suicidality, severe psychomotor retardation (with associated problems of hydration and nutrition), affective psychosis, bipolar depression and behavioural disturbance.

Type
Research Article
Information
Advances in Psychiatric Treatment , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , January 1999 , pp. 3 - 10
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 1999 

References

Altshuler, L. L., Post, R. M., Leverich, G. S. et al (1995) Antidepressant-induced mania and cycle acceleration: a controversy revisited. American Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 1130–1138.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised)(DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1990) The Practice of ECT: Recommendations for Treatment, Training and Privileging. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.Google Scholar
Anderson, I. & Tomenson, B. (1994) The efficacy of selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors in depression: a meta-analysis of studies against tricyclic antidepressants. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 8, 238–249.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Artigas, F., Romero, L., de Montigny, C. et al (1996) Acceleration of the effect of selected antidepressant drugs in major depression by 5-HT1a antagonists. Trends in Neurosciences, 19, 378–383.Google Scholar
Avorn, B., Everitt, D. & Weiss, S. (1986) Increased antidepressant use in patients prescribed beta blockers. Journal of the American Medical Association, 255, 357–360.Google Scholar
Baron, B. M., Ogden, A. M., Siegel, B. W. et al (1988) Rapid down regulation of β-adrenoceptors by co-administration of desipramine and fluoxetine. European Journal of Pharmacology, 154, 125–134.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Benkert, O., Grunder, G., Wetzel, H. et al (1996) A randomized, double-blind comparison of a rapidly escalating dose of venlafaxine and imipramine in inpatients with major depression and melancholia. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 30, 441–451.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blier, P., de Montigny, C. & Chaput, Y. (1988) Electrophysiological assessment of the effects of antidepressant treatments on the efficacy of 5-HT neurotransmission. Clinical Neuropharmacology, 11, S1–S10.Google ScholarPubMed
Buchan, H., Johnstone, E., McPherson, K. et al (1992) Who benefits from electroconvulsive therapy? Combined results of the Leicester and Northwick Park trials. British Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 355–359.Google Scholar
Crowner, M. L., Douyon, R., Convit, A. et al (1990) Akathisia and violence. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 26, 115–117.Google Scholar
Clerc, G. E., Ruimy, P. & Verdeau-Pailles, J. (1994) A double-blind comparison of venlafaxine and fluoxetine in patients hospitalised for major depression and melancholia. International Clinical Psychopharmacology, 9, 139–143.Google Scholar
Danish University Antidepressant Group (1990) Paroxetine: a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor showing better tolerance, but weaker antidepressant effect than clomipramine in a controlled multicenter study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 18, 289–299.Google Scholar
Derivan, A., Entsuah, A. R. & Kikta, D. (1995) Venlafaxine: measuring the onset of antidepressant action. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 31, 439–447.Google Scholar
Dilsaver, S. C., Chen, Y. W., Swann, A. C. et al (1994) Suicidality in patients with pure and depressive mania. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1312–1315.Google ScholarPubMed
d'Elia, G. (1970) Unilateral electroconvulsive therapy. Acta Psychiatrica Scandanavica, 215 (suppl.), 5–98.Google Scholar
Fava, M., Nierenberg, A. A., Quitkin, F. M. et al (1997) A preliminary study on the efficacy of sertraline and imipramine on anger attacks in atypical depression and dysthymia. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 33, 101–103.Google Scholar
Fawcett, J., Scheftner, W. A., Fogg, L. et al (1990) Time-related predictors of suicide in major affective disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 1189–1194.Google Scholar
Guelfi, J. D., White, C., Hackett, D. et al (1995) Effectiveness of venlafaxine in patients hospitalized for major depression and melancholia. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 56, 450–458.Google ScholarPubMed
Hamilton, M. (1960) A rating scale for depression. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 23, 56–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, J., Horwath, E. & Weissman, M. (1991) The validity of major depression with psychotic features based on a community study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 48, 1075–1081.Google Scholar
Lock, T. (1995) Stimulus dosing. In The ECT Handbook: The Second Report of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Special Committee on ECT (Council Report CR39), pp. 72–87. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists.Google Scholar
Lurie, S. & Coffey, C. (1990) Caffeine-modified electroconvulsive therapy in depressed in-patients with medical illness. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 51, 154–157.Google Scholar
Macpherson, R., Anstee, B. & Dix, R. (1996) Guidelines for management of acutely disturbed patients. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 2, 194–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, R. M., Hilton, S. R., Kerry, S. M. et al (1997) General practitioners' perceptions of the tolerability of antidepressant drugs: a comparison of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and tricyclic antidepressants. British Medical Journal, 314, 646–651.Google Scholar
Montgomery, S. A. & Åsberg, M. (1979) A new depression scale designed to be sensitive to change. British Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 382–389.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Myers, D. H. & Neal, C. D. (1978) Suicide in psychiatric patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 38–44.Google Scholar
National Institute of Mental Health (1995) Antidepressants. Can we determine how quickly they work? Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 31, 21–55.Google Scholar
Nelson, J. C., Price, L. H. & Jatlow, P. I. (1986) Neuroleptic dose and desipramine concentrations during combined treatment of unipolar delusional depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 143, 1151–1154.Google ScholarPubMed
Nelson, J. C., Mazure, C. M., Bowers, M. B. Jr et al (1991) A preliminary, open study of the combination of fluoxetine and desipramine for rapid treatment of major depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 48, 303–307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nemeroff, C., DeVane, C. & Pollock, B. (1996) Newer antidepressants and the cytochrome P450 system. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 311–320.Google Scholar
Parker, G. (1996) On lightening up: improvement trajectories in recovery from depression. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment, 2, 186–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, G., Roy, K., Hadzi-Pavlovic, D. et al (1992) Psychotic (delusional) depression: A meta-analysis of physical treatments. Journal of Affective Disorders, 24, 17–24.Google Scholar
Pollock, B. G., Perel, J. M., Nathan, R. S. et al (1989) Acute antidepressant effect following pulse loading with intravenous and oral clomipramine. Archives of General Psychiatry, 46, 29–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Post, R. M., Uhde, T. W., Rubinow, D. R. et al (1987) Differential time course of antidepressant effects after sleep deprivation, ECT, and carbamazepine: clinical and theoretical implications. Psychiatry Research, 22, 11–19.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Post, R. M., Ketter, T. A., Denicoff, K. et al (1996) The place of anticonvulsant therapy in bipolar illness. Psychopharmacology, 128, 115–129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rodger, C. R., Scott, A. I. & Whalley, L. J. (1994) Is there a delay in the onset of the antidepressant effect of electroconvulsive therapy? British Journal of Psychiatry, 164, 106–109.Google Scholar
Roose, S., Glassman, A., Walsh, B. et al (1983) Depression, delusions, and suicide. American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 1159–1162.Google ScholarPubMed
Royal College of Psychiatrists' Special Committee on ECT (1994) Official Video Teaching Pack of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Special Committee on ECT. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists.Google Scholar
Royal College of Psychiatrists' Special Committee on ECT (1995) The ECT Handbook: The Second Report of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Special Committee on ECT (Council Report CR39). London: Royal College of Psychiatrists.Google Scholar
Sachdev, P. & Longragan, C. (1991) The present status of akathisia. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 179, 381–391.Google Scholar
Sackeim, H., Decina, P., Prohovnik, I. et al (1987) Seizure threshold in electroconvulsive therapy. Effects of sex, age, electrode placement, and number of treatments. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 355–360.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sackeim, H., Prudic, J., Devanand, D. P. et al (1993) Effects of stimulus intensity and electrode placement on the efficacy and cognitive effects of electroconvulsive therapy. New England Journal of Medicine, 328, 839–846.Google Scholar
Sallee, F. R., Pollock, B. G., Perel, J. M. et al (1989) Intravenous pulse loading of clomipramine in adolescents with depression. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 25, 114–118.Google Scholar
Segman, R. H., Shapira, B., Gorfine, M. et al (1995) Onset and time course of antidepressant action: psychopharmacological implications of a controlled trial of electroconvulsive therapy. Psychopharmacology, 119, 440–448.Google Scholar
Shapira, B., Tubi, N., Drexler, H. et al (1998) Cost and benefit in the choice of ECT schedule. Twice versus three times weekly ECT. British Journal of Psychiatry, 172, 44–48.Google Scholar
Sobin, C., Prudic, J., Devanand, D. P. et al (1996) Who responds to electroconvulsive therapy? A comparison of effective and ineffective forms of treatment. British Journal of Psychiatry, 169, 322–328.Google Scholar
Spiker, D. G., Weiss, J. C., Dealy, R. S. et al (1985) The pharmacological treatment of delusional depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 142, 430–436.Google Scholar
Swann, A. C., Bowden, C. L., Morris, D. et al (1997) Depression during mania. Treatment response to lithium or divalproex. Archives of General Psychiatry, 54, 37–42.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.