Clinical significance of reversed vegetative subtypes of recurrent major depression.

The significance of reversed vegetative forms of atypical depression (AD) was investigated in a sample of 211 outpatients with recurrent major depression. Consistent with several earlier reports, AD patients were younger, had fewer typical symptoms of melancholia, and responded slower to imipramine and psychotherapy treatment given according to protocol. There were few differences between reversed vegetative AD patients with reactive and nonreactive moods; both subforms of AD responded well to monoamine oxidase inhibitor when crossed over after initial protocol treatment failed.