Atypical Antipsychotics and Other Therapeutic Options for Treatment of Resistant Major Depressive Disorder

Antidepressant therapies, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are current first-line treatments for Major Depressive Disorder. However, over 50% of treated patients show an inadequate response to initial antidepressant therapy. If the therapeutic outcomes from two antidepressant therapies are suboptimal, potentially resulting in Treatment Resistant Depression, subsequent strategies include switching to another antidepressant or augmenting treatment by combining with other agents. When combined with SSRIs, atypical antipsychotics have supplementary action on dopaminergic and noradrenergic systems. Studies on combined treatment with atypical antipsychotics have shown significantly increased remission rates, shortened response times, and favorable side effects. Augmentation of antidepressants with atypical antipsychotics is now an acceptable treatment strategy which leads to increased remission rates and better outcomes for patients.