[How should mentally handicapped adults with depressive disorders be treated psychopharmacologically?]

The psychotropic drug treatment being administrated to 38 mentally retarded persons (age > 19 years) with current DSM-III-R depressive disorders and living in different types of residential care institutions was compared with that received by a non-depressive group of mental retarded adults (n = 146). The individuals with depressive disorders more frequently received treatment with at least one psychotropic drug (45% vs 22%), most often neuroleptics (45% vs 18%) and seldom antidepressants (11% vs 0%). These results suggest that treatment is frequently inappropriate and ineffective.