Dysthymic disorder: Treatment with mirtazapine

Dysthymic disorder is a form of chronic depression which often has its onse t in childhood or adolescence and is generally persistent throughout life. Although originally hypothesized to be preferentially treated with psychoth erapy, recent pharmacological studies support the use of antidepressants to treat patients with dysthymic disorder, Mirtazapine is an antidepressant w hich has been recently released on the U.S. market. We studied the effects of 15 to 45 mg of mirtazapine in IS patients with dysthymic disorder on an open label basis over a 10- week period Four patients discontinued treatmen t because of sedation. Mirtazapine was effective and well tolerated in the remaining patients. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.