Mechanism and management of important psychotherapeutic drug interactions

Interactions between drugs can result in unintended changes in desired pharmacologic effects. Because psychotherapeutic drugs represent the most widely used class of pharmacologic agents, physicians must anticipate possible consequences of their interactions. An overview of drug interaction reports reveals that they can be usefully divided into those with either a pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic mechanism. We review the most important of these interactions and present methods to avoid or minimize their untoward effects.