Personality changes during antidepressant treatment.

OBJECTIVES We have investigated the changes of Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) dimensions of personality in outpatients during 6 months of antidepressant treatment. SUBJECTS AND METHODS 30 outpatients were treated for mild or moderate depressive episode, current mild or moderate episode of reccurent depressive disorder or mixed anxiety and depressive disorder (ICD-10). The intensity of depression was assessed by the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) at the beginning of treatment and then after the 1st, 3rd and 6th month of treatment. The TCI dimensions were assessed by the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R) at the same time periods as the MADRS. The mean scores of the TCI-R dimensions and MADRS were processed by Wilcoxon pair test. RESULTS We have observed a significant decrease in harm avoidance (HA) score after 6 months of treatment (p<0.05), between the 1st and 6th month (p<0.05), between the 3rd and 6th month, (p=0.033), significant increase in persistance (P) between the 1st and 6th month (p<0.05) and a significant decrease in self-transcendence (ST) score after 3 months (p<0.05) and after 6 months (p<0.05). In the MADRS total score we have observed a significant decrease after the 1st (p<0.001), 3rd (p<0.001) and also 6th month (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Our findings showed changes of personality dimensions HA, P and ST in outpatients during antidepressant treatment.