Allergy, Depression and Tricyclic Antidepressants

INTRODUCTION Psychiatrists have been very reluctant to accept the idea that depressions, which they know so well, may be caused by allergies to common environmental molecules such as foods, airborne particles, and chemicals in water. When patients were depressed and anxious, and at the same time suffered from diseases accepted as allergic, psychosomatic explanations were used. This usually meant that a psychological explanation for the presence of the allergic reactions was invoked. The mood disorder was looked upon as a natural reaction to the discomfort of the allergic reaction. Asthma for a long time was one of the seven major psychosomatic diseases. Most psychiatrists still believe schizophrenic patients can not be allergic, at least not when they are ill, but it was accepted that schizophrenia and allergic reactions could alternate. A few physicians have concluded that allergic reactions are much more common than one would assume from the psychiatric literature, and that the allergic reaction