Antidepressants: Definition, Classification, Guidelines

Antidepressant effects of the monoamine oxidase inhibitor iproniazid and imipramine have been discovered serendipitously 1957/1958. Their effects of serotonergic and noradrenergic transmission led to hypotheses of the origin of depression. Various tri- and tetracyclic substances have been synthesized; in the 1980s, serotonin- selective inhibitors like fluoxetine got first-line antidepressants. Dual acting, combined serotonin-noradrenaline-reuptake inhibitors like venlafaxine have been developed, so classification of antidepressants nowadays includes these main groups. Recently, a new nomenclature for neuropsychopharmacological CNS medications (NbN), based on neuroscience regarding pharmacology and mode of action, has been proposed. Guidelines have been proposed by international and national societies like National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP), The International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP), American Psychiatric Association (APA), and German Association for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (DGPPN). © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.