Efficacy and safety of antidepressant and antipsychotic combinations in the treatment of depression

Abstract

Based on the research by the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the level of anxiety and depression is growing across the country. The greatest blow falls on young people aged 18–24, with about 77 % noting depressive symptoms in themselves. Zurab Kekelidze, the director general of the Serbsky Center, responsible for providing the World Health Organization (WHO) with data on people with depression, revealed that about 8 million people in Russia suffer from this disease. That is why it is essential for a practitioner to pay attention to the effectiveness of the chosen drug therapy, as well as to take into account adverse reactions. The purpose of the review. This article provides an update on the clinical pharmacology, mechanisms of action, and safety of antidepressants, antipsychotics, and the results of their combination in the treatment of depression. We identified potentially relevant studies by searching the electronic databases MEDLINE, SCOPUS, PubMed, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews for the last 5 years up to December 2022, using the terms: depression, mental disorders, therapy, safety, efficacy, adverse effects. Results. Recent studies have shown the efficacy and good tolerability of antidepressant and antipsychotic therapy in the treatment of depression.