Mirtazapine in Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): A preliminary report

Beside light therapy, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) are th e recommended treatment for patients suffering from Seasonal Affective Diso rder (SAD). They seem to particularly resolve the atypical symptoms of SAD, while tricyclic antidepressants tend to worsen them. The latter has been l inked to the broader spectrum of neurotransmitter modulation tricyclics enf old. Mirtazapine is a navel antidepressant providing a broad spectrum of ne urotransmitter modulation on a basis of high selectivity. In order to evalu ate the antidepressant efficacy of mirtazapine in the treatment of SAD, eig ht 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 Sca le, 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 (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.