Venlafaxine has been shown in clinical trials to be safe and well tolerated in patients with major depression. Data were pooled from 19 studies in which 2181 patients were given venlafaxine, 451 were given placebo and 591 were given a reference antidepressant (imipramine, trazodone, clomipramine, maprotiline, dothiepin or amineptine). Long-term safety was evaluated in 422 patients who were given venlafaxine for at least 1 year; as well, a total of 229 elderly patients have been treated with venlafaxine, including 66 who were given it for at least 1 year. The adverse events that occurred during short-term treatment in > or = 10% of patients were nausea, headache, insomnia, somnolence, dry mouth, dizziness, constipation, asthenia, sweating and nervousness. In comparator-controlled trials, the frequency of anticholinergic events with the reference agents was approximately twice that with venlafaxine. The safety profile and patient acceptability of venlafaxine are comparable to those of third-generation antidepressants, and possibly better than those of first-generation agents.