[A psychotropic drug treatment of psychiatric symptoms after stroke]

Psychiatric syndromes are common in the patients with cerebrovascular disease. Poststroke depression (PSD) is a most frequent complication of after cerebrovascular disease. Depression affects 20-50% of patients within a year after stroke. PSD has a negative impact on functional recovery. Poststroke anxiety disorder, apathy and pathological laughing and crying are also frequent and under-detected symptoms. In this chapter, we described an outline mainly on treatment of PSD among these symptoms, in paticular, about antidepressant medications. There is an association between depression and atherosclerosis. Several trials have shown evidence that antidepressants may prevent depressive symptoms after stroke. The concept of "vascular depression" will suggest that the establishment of a new treatment strategy is demanded in future.