Lithium as an Antidepressant

Evidence has been accumulating from several sources in support of the claim that lithium is an effective antidepressant in a subgroup of depressed patients. The acceptance of this has been somewhat impaired by the availability of the tricyclic compounds that are relatively effective in a much larger number of depressed patients. Further, lithium's clear antimanic action has prompted resistance to the implications that a single compound is both antidepressant and antimanic. The evidence for lithium's antidepressant action derives from 12 controlled studies that have been conducted in nine different centers (Table). Three of these¹⁻³concluded that lithium was not an antidepressant, while the remaining nine⁴⁻¹¹all reported a significant antidepressnat effect. These studies have been reviewed in detail else-where.¹⁰,¹²,¹³ Also listed in this table is the most recent study from our group (T. A. Ramsey, MD, W. Dyson, MD, J. Mendels, MD, et al; unpublished findings, 1978), a single-blind study in