| Abstract: | Beside light therapy, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) are the recommended treatment for patients suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). They seem to particularly resolve the atypical symptoms of SAD, while tricyclic antidepressants tend to worsen them. The latter has been linked to the broader spectrum of neurotransmitter modulation tricyclics enfold. Mirtazapine is a novel antidepressant providing a broad spectrum of neurotransmitter modulation on a basis of high selectivity. In order to evaluate the antidepressant efficacy of mirtazapine in the treatment of SAD, eight depressed and drug‐naive SAD patients entered a 4 week drug surveillance and received 30 mg of mirtazapine per day. Clinical response was assessed using the Structured Interview Guide for the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Seasonal Affective Disorder Version (SIGH‐SAD). Our preliminary results show that mirtazapine was not only well tolerated by the patients but also efficacious in the treatment of SAD. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
