A Koukopoulos1, G Sani, A E Koukopoulos, G Manfredi, I Pacchiarotti, P Girardi. 1. Centro Lucio Bini, Center for the Treatment and Research of Affective Disorders and Department of Psychiatry, University of Rome La Sapienza, c/o Sant'Andrea Hospital, Rome, Italy. a.koukopoulos@fastwebnet.it
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The diagnostic entity of major depressive episode includes both simple and agitated or mixed depression. Mixed depression is characterized by a full depressive episode with several symptoms of excitatory nature. Mixed depressions worsen if treated with antidepressants. METHOD: We have reviewed the clinical charts of the 2141 patients treated at the Centro Lucio Bini of Rome from January 1999 to June 2006. These patients were diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria. Research diagnostic criteria were applied for agitated depression with motor agitation and Author's diagnostic criteria for agitated depression without motor agitation. RESULTS: One thousand and twenty-six patients had a depressive episode as index episode. Three hundred and forty six (33%) were mixed depressive states. One hundred and thirty eight (44%) of them were spontaneous; in 173 cases, the onset of the mixed depression was associated with antidepressants. CONCLUSION: Psychic and motor agitation are considered equally important for the definition of agitated depression. Treating agitated depression with antidepressants worsens the clinical picture. The use of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), neuroleptics and anticonvulsants are recommended. The term Melancholia Agitata is proposed for agitated (mixed) depression.
OBJECTIVE: The diagnostic entity of major depressive episode includes both simple and agitated or mixed depression. Mixed depression is characterized by a full depressive episode with several symptoms of excitatory nature. Mixed depressions worsen if treated with antidepressants. METHOD: We have reviewed the clinical charts of the 2141 patients treated at the Centro Lucio Bini of Rome from January 1999 to June 2006. These patients were diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria. Research diagnostic criteria were applied for agitated depression with motor agitation and Author's diagnostic criteria for agitated depression without motor agitation. RESULTS: One thousand and twenty-six patients had a depressive episode as index episode. Three hundred and forty six (33%) were mixed depressive states. One hundred and thirty eight (44%) of them were spontaneous; in 173 cases, the onset of the mixed depression was associated with antidepressants. CONCLUSION: Psychic and motor agitation are considered equally important for the definition of agitated depression. Treating agitated depression with antidepressants worsens the clinical picture. The use of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), neuroleptics and anticonvulsants are recommended. The term Melancholia Agitata is proposed for agitated (mixed) depression.
Authors: Isabella Pacchiarotti; David J Bond; Ross J Baldessarini; Willem A Nolen; Heinz Grunze; Rasmus W Licht; Robert M Post; Michael Berk; Guy M Goodwin; Gary S Sachs; Leonardo Tondo; Robert L Findling; Eric A Youngstrom; Mauricio Tohen; Juan Undurraga; Ana González-Pinto; Joseph F Goldberg; Ayşegül Yildiz; Lori L Altshuler; Joseph R Calabrese; Philip B Mitchell; Michael E Thase; Athanasios Koukopoulos; Francesc Colom; Mark A Frye; Gin S Malhi; Konstantinos N Fountoulakis; Gustavo Vázquez; Roy H Perlis; Terence A Ketter; Frederick Cassidy; Hagop Akiskal; Jean-Michel Azorin; Marc Valentí; Diego Hidalgo Mazzei; Beny Lafer; Tadafumi Kato; Lorenzo Mazzarini; Anabel Martínez-Aran; Gordon Parker; Daniel Souery; Ayşegül Ozerdem; Susan L McElroy; Paolo Girardi; Michael Bauer; Lakshmi N Yatham; Carlos A Zarate; Andrew A Nierenberg; Boris Birmaher; Shigenobu Kanba; Rif S El-Mallakh; Alessandro Serretti; Zoltan Rihmer; Allan H Young; Georgios D Kotzalidis; Glenda M MacQueen; Charles L Bowden; S Nassir Ghaemi; Carlos Lopez-Jaramillo; Janusz Rybakowski; Kyooseob Ha; Giulio Perugi; Siegfried Kasper; Jay D Amsterdam; Robert M Hirschfeld; Flávio Kapczinski; Eduard Vieta Journal: Am J Psychiatry Date: 2013-11 Impact factor: 18.112
Authors: Daniela Reginaldi; Alexia Koukopoulos; Ross J Baldessarini; Gianni L Faedda; Giuseppe Fazzari; Paolo Girardi; Giorgio Kotzalidis; Giovanni Manfredi; Gian Paolo Minnai; Isabella Pacchiarotti; Michele Raja; Gabriele Sani; Gino Serra; Leonardo Tondo; Eduard Vieta Journal: Int J Bipolar Disord Date: 2013-10-08