New directions in the treatment of atypical depression

Atypical depression, one of the 4 historically important ways of subdividing depression, was first used by West and Dally to describe a patient subgroup that was nonresponsive to imipramine but responsive to iproniazid. The definition was later refined to include reverse vegetative and hysteroid dysphoria symptoms, presaging adoption of the current DSM definition in 1984. However, focusing on hysteroid dysphoria symptoms drew attention away from anxiety symptoms, some of which are more strongly linked to atypical depression. Studies that have attempted to validate atypical depression have reinforced reverse vegetative symptoms criteria and have shown that atypical depression is probably more common than melancholia. Studies suggest that atypical depression is not preferentially responsive to monoamine oxidase inhibitors, but rather less responsive to tricyclic antidepressants.