The prophylactic efficacy of tricyclic antidepressants—A five year followup

Past, Present, and Future Directions for Defining Optimal Treatment Outcome in Depression

“…21,27,107 Results of continuation and maintenance phase studies of antidepressant therapy have demonstrated that patients who had responded to an antidepressant and continued treatment with the full therapeutic dose were less likely to relapse than those who had their dose decreased 108 or who discontinued the drug. [109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119] Thus, continuation and maintenance therapy with antidepressant medications has become accepted as the standard of care.…”

Long-term treatment of depression

“…In a retrospective analysis of 245 patients with recurrent major depression (DSM III criteria), who were euthymic after 6 months of acute treatment, Peselow et al (1991) found that the rate of reappearance of disease at 5 years was significantly (P < 0.04) lower in patients who continued treatment with tricyclic antidepressants than in those patients who stopped treatment at 6 months.…”