[Cost analysis of treating depression. Comparison of tricyclic antidepressants and selective serotonine re-uptake inhibitors].

The question of costs in treating the most widely spread diseases has appeared in medical literature for several years. A task of modern health economics is to estimate and, if possible, to reduce direct and indirect costs of illnesses having social dimension. Since depression takes important place among them, it also stays in a circle of economists' interests. Latest changes in pharmacotherapy of depression, connected with appearence, by tricyclics, selective serotonine reuptake inhibitors, seem to be very promising: they have similar antidepressive effectiveness, but differ in toxicity after overdose, quantity and quality of side-effects, treatment dropout. However the organisation of Polish health service still passes over this economic aspect, it is probable that this situation will change in the nearest future, so it can be interesting to approach the methods of economic thinking in western psychiatric services.