The importance of new antidepressants in the treatment of anxiety/depressive disorders.

Patients suffering from anxiety and depression are often seen in clinical practice. In accordance with the diagnostic criteria of DSM-III/IV and ICD-10, respectively, there may be various combinations of symptoms and degrees of severity. The symptoms of these patients may range from subthreshold anxiety or depression to a combination of anxiety and depressive disorders. Besides giving an extensive survey of diagnostic problems and the epidemiological incidence of such combinations, pharmacotherapeutic approaches are critically reviewed. Metaanalyses have shown that various serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) are equivalent, if not superior, to tricyclic antidepressants (TCA) in their anti-anxiety effectiveness. Hence, SSRI may be considered a therapy of choice, not least on account of very few adverse effects and good tolerance. More recent antidepressants are under scrutiny for their anti-anxiety efficacy. Citalopram, venlafaxine and, because of its established sedative action, nefazodone seem to be particularly suited to fill a possible therapeutic gap and to provide agitated patients with an alternative to TCA.