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Jonathan R. T. Davidson, MD; Robert D. Miller, MD, PhD; Craig D. Turnbull, PhD; John L. Sullivan, MD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1982;39(5):527-534.

Abstract
• The term atypical depression generally indicates either depression accompanied by severe anxiety (type A) or by atypical vegetative symptoms, ie, increased appetite, weight, sleep, or libido (type V). Early age at onset, predominance in women, outpatient status, mild intensity, rarity of attempted suicide, nonbipolarity, nonendogenicity, and minimal psychomotor change are common to both types. Some types of bipolar depression may be considered as atypical if accompanied by reversed vegetative change. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors are more effective than placebo in treating atypical depression, but their reported superiority to tricyclic antidepressants awaits confirmation, for which the development of appropriate operational criteria would be helpful. Atypical depression is a term that covers several types of depressive disorder and can, for the most part, be better defined using the standard nomenclature.

Author Affiliations
From the Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC (Drs Davidson and Miller); the Clinical Psyehopharmacology Service (Dr Davidson) and Residency Training Program (Dr Miller), John Umstead Hospital, Butner, NC; the Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Dr Turnbull); and the Medical Research Service, Veterans Administration Central Office, Washington DC (Dr Sullivan).

Footnotes
Accepted for publication Aug 27, 1981.

Reprint requests to Clinical Psyehopharmacology Service, John Umstead Hospital, Butner, NC 27509 (Dr Davidson).

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