Hirschfeld R M
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas, Medical Branch, Galveston 77555-0429.
J Clin Psychiatry. 1994 Dec;55 Suppl:61-9; discussion 70-1.
Depression is frequently a recurrent and sometimes a chronic illness. Unfortunately, most research on treatment has focused almost exclusively on the short-term. For example, the majority of clinical trials of medications and psychotherapeutic approaches last only 6 to 16 weeks. Relatively little research has been conducted on continuation treatment (usually 3-6 months) to prevent relapses and on maintenance treatment (6-24 months) to prevent recurrences. This paper will review continuation and maintenance phase pharmacotherapeutic trials and will make recommendations for clinical treatment of patients during these periods.
抑郁症常常是一种复发性疾病，有时甚至是慢性疾病。不幸的是，大多数治疗研究几乎都只专注于短期治疗。例如，大多数药物和心理治疗方法的临床试验仅持续6至16周。针对预防复发的延续治疗（通常为3 - 6个月）以及预防复发的维持治疗（6 - 24个月）的研究相对较少。本文将回顾延续和维持阶段的药物治疗试验，并对这些时期患者的临床治疗提出建议。
