Prospects for the development of new treatments with a rapid onset of action in affective disorders

Several compounds have been claimed to have a faster onset of antidepressant action. However, these trials suffered from lack of appropriate definitions and of standardised and comparable methodology, as far as measurement instruments, dosage strategies and statistical analyses were concerned. This article was undertaken to examine the data on the speed of onset of action with the available antidepressant compounds. To date, no compound has clearly been proven to act any faster than others. Electroconvulsive therapy is the modality that seems to produce faster onset of action compared with available medications. The major methodological issues in these studies are reviewed, and areas for future research are suggested.