What are the major categories of antidepressants?
There are many classes of antidepressants. Two kinds of antidepressants have been around for over 30 years. These are the tricyclic antidepressants and the monoamine oxidase inhibitors. While there are newer antidepressants, many with fewer side effects, none of the newer antidepressants has been shown to be more effective than these two classes of drugs. In fact, many people who have not responded to newer antidepressants have been successfully treated with one of these classes of drugs. The tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) include such drugs as Imipramine (Tofranil, amitriptyline (Elavil), desipramine (Norpramin), nortriptyline (Aventyl and Pamelor). The monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) include tranylcypromine (Parnate), phenelzine (Nardil), and isocarboxazid (Marplan) which has recently been taken off the market in the U.S.A. for marketing rather than safety or efficacy reasons. One class of antidepressants are the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). The first of th
