Mirtazapine: Other Indications

During the last decade, it became evident that antidepressants may represent a useful treatment option for a variety of primary psychiatric disorders other than depression. Improved understanding of both underlying etiology of these disorders and pharmacologic modes of action of available treatments has led to an improvement in conditions such as panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. In addition, evidence is accumulating that some new antidepressants may be of therapeutic value in treatment of some subtypes of depressive disorder previously unresponsive to treatment or difficult to treat, such as seasonal affective disorder, depression with atypical features, and recurrent brief depression. Mirtazapine is an antidepressant with mode of action different from other currently available antidepressants. A review of currently available data of mirtazapine’s use in indications other than depression and in some types of depressive disorder is presented.