Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-cphqk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-01T17:05:42.238Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Two-week delay in onset of action of antidepressants: new evidence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Alex J. Mitchell
Alex J. Mitchell*
Affiliation:
Department of Liaison Psychiatry, Leicester General Hospital, Leicester, UK
*
Dr Alex J. Mitchell, Department of Liaison Psychiatry, Brandon Unit, Leicester General Hospital, Leicester LE5 4PW, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Many sources purport that antidepressants have a delayed onset of action, measured in weeks rather than days. Recent data using weekly or daily mood ratings demonstrate that maximum improvement occurs during the first 2 weeks, with some improvement within the first 3 days. Methodological issues may underlie the delayed-onset hypothesis.

Type
Editorials
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 188 , Issue 2 , February 2006 , pp. 105 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Footnotes

Declaration of Interest

None.

References

Anderson, I. M., Nutt, D. J. & Deakin, J. F. W. (2000) Evidence-based guidelines for treating depressive disorders with antidepressants: a revision of the 1993 British Association for Psychopharmacology guidelines. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 14, 3–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blier, P. (2003) The pharmacology of putative early-onset antidepressant strategies. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 13, 57–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dew, M. A., Reynolds, C. F., Mulsant, B., et al (2001) Initial recovery patterns may predict which maintenance therapies for depression will keep older adults well. Journal of Affective Disorders, 65, 155–166.Google Scholar
Garfield, S., Francis, S. A. & Smith, F. J. (2004) Building concordant relationships with patients starting antidepressant medication. Patient Education and Counseling, 55, 241–246.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Husain, M. M., Rush, A. J., Fink, M., et al (2004) Speed of response and remission in major depressive disorder with acute electroconvulsive therapy (ECT): a Consortium for Research in ECT (CORE) report. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 65, 485–491.Google Scholar
Leon, A. C., Blier, P., Culpepper, L., et al (2001) An ideal trial to test differential onset of antidepressant effect. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 62, 34–36.Google ScholarPubMed
Maier, W., Philipp, M., Heuser, I., et al (1988) Improving depression severity assessment. 1. Reliability, interna validity and sensitivity to change of three observer depression scales. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 22, 3–12.Google Scholar
Mayberg, H. S., Silva, J. A., Brannan, S. K., et al (2002) The functional neuroanatomy of the placebo effect. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 728–737.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moller, H. J., Muller, H. & Volz, H. P. (1996) How to assess the onset of antidepressant effect: comparison of global ratings and findings based on depression scales. Pharmacopsychiatry, 29, 57–62.Google Scholar
National Institute for Clinical Excellence (2004) Depression: Management of Depression in Primary and Secondary Care. Clinical Guideline 23. London: NICE. www.nice.org.uk/pdf/CG023quickrefguide.pdf Google Scholar
Parker, G. & Roy, K. (2003) The development of a six-item daily self-report measure assessing identified depressive domains. Journal of Affective Disorders, 73, 289–294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parker, G., Roussos, J., HadziPavlovic, D., et al (1997) Plumbing the depths: some problems in quantifying depression severity. Journal of Affective Disorders, 42, 49–58.Google Scholar
Parker, G., Roy, K., Menkes, D. B., et al (2000) How long does it take for antidepressant therapies to act? Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 34, 65–70.Google Scholar
Peters, M. L., Sorbi, M. J., Kruise, D. A., et al (2000) Electronic diary assessment of pain, disability and psychological adaptation in patients differing in duration of pain. Pain, 84, 181–192.Google Scholar
Posternak, M. A. & Miller, I. (2001) Untreated short-term course of major depression: a meta-analysis of outcomes from studies using wait-list control groups. Journal of Affective Disorders, 66, 139–146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Posternak, M. A. & Zimmerman, M. (2005) Is there a delay in the antidepressant effect? A meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 66, 148–158.Google Scholar
Quitkin, F. M., Rabkin, J. D., Markowitz, J. M., et al (1987) Use of pattern analysis to identify true drug response: a replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 259–264.Google Scholar
Sherliker, L. & Steptoe, A. (2000) Coping with new treatments for cancer: a feasibility study of daily diary measures. Patient Education and Counseling, 40, 11–19.Google Scholar
Stassen, H. H., Angst, J. & DeliniStula, A. (1996) Delayed onset of action of antidepressant drugs? Survey of results of Zurich meta-analyses. Pharmacopsychiatry, 29, 87–96.Google Scholar
Stassen, H. H., Angst, J. & DeliniStula, A. (1997) Delayed onset of action of antidepressant drugs? Survey of recent results. European Psychiatry, 12, 166–176.Google Scholar
Szegedi, A., Muller, M. J., Anghelescu, I., et al (2003) Early improvement under mirtazapine and paroxetine predicts later stable response and remission with high sensitivity in patients with major depression. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 64, 413–420.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.