Tricyclic antidepressants in obsessive-compulsive disorder: antiobsessional or antidepressant agents? II

Abstract

The relationship between the antiobsessional and antidepressant effects of tricyclic drugs in primary obsessive-compulsive disorders was explored. Study 1 consisted of a controlled 12-wk trial with clomipramine (N = 7) and placebo (N = 5); study 2 analyzed the pooled data from 15 patients uniformly selected and treated with either clomipramine or imipramine. Although the antiobessional and antidepressant effects of the drugs covaried, their antidepressant action was not a prerequisite for their antiobsessional effect. Clomipramine and probably imipramine possess specific antiobsessive effects that are at least partially independent of ther antidepressant effects.