Amitriptyline therapy of obsessive-compulsive neurosis

Substantial improvement in 2 patients with obsessive-compulsive neurosis resulted from the administration of amitriptyline. No other pharmacologic or psychologic intervention had previously been effective in these patients. This tricyclic antidepressant has a pharmacologic spectrum of action very similar to chlorimipramine. Both drugs cause significant impairment in serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) reuptake. Evidence for a relative deficit in the central availability of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in obsessive-compulsive phenomena is presented and a rationale for the use of these agents evolves.