Atypical Antipsychotics for Treatment of Mixed Depression and Anxiety

Letter to the Editor

Sir: Patients with chronic depression may respond poorly or
not at all to antidepressant medications; those with comorbid
anxiety or histories of traumatic stress may be especially difficult
to treat. Standard antipsychotics have long been used by
clinicians to treat high degrees of agitation and anxiety in nonpsychotic
patients with severe personality disorders. The benefit
these patients may derive is often judged to outweigh the risk
of tardive dyskinesia.