PHARMACOTHERAPY OF AFFECTIVELY ILL SUICIDAL PATIENTS

The development of psychopharmacologic strategies for ameliorating the symptoms associated with major psychiatric disorders is relatively re cent in the history of medicine. Regarding depression, the past 30 yea rs have seen the advent of several clinically therapeutic antidepressa nt medication classes. With the advent of these newer and safer antide pressants, more primary care practitioners are prescribing these drugs , and as a result, more people are being prescribed antidepressant med ication than ever before. This article reviews this psychopharmacologi c revolution that has emerged as a consequence of a greater understand ing of the neurochemical perturbations underlying major affective diso rders.