A Study of Refractory Cases of Depressive Illnesses and their Response to Combined Antidepressant Treatment

Opinions differ on the effectiveness and the risk involved in treating depressive illnesses with combinations of monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and tricyclic antidepressants. Some authorities, including the Food and Drug Administration in the United States, the former Witts Committee in this country, and the pharmaceutical firms producing antidepressants, have given serious warnings against combining MAOIs with tricyclic antidepressants. These warnings have been repeated more recently by Beck (1967), Malitz (1966) and Shepherd et al. (1968).