Are all antidepressants alike?

Antidepressants are indicated in about 40 different disorders, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and other disorders. We propose to call these disorders antidepressani-responsive disorders (ARDs). We describe the clinical and biological criteria that differentiate the antidepressants. Although antidepressants share the same clinical efficacy in most ARDs, the configuration of adverse drug reactions varies widely. The recent antidepressants should be preferred to the tricyclic antidepressants as first-line treatment because of their lesser risk of severe adverse drug reactions. However, several recent antidepressants have been associated with severe complications such as the serotonin syndrome and the withdrawal syndrome. Patient characteristics should be included as a criterion to predict both unwanted and favorable effects.