Antidepressant drugs

Two major classes of drugs combatting depression were developed in the late 1950s, one group based on iproniazid, an MAOI developed at Hoffmann-La Roche in 1956, the other on imipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant developed by R. Kuhn at Geigy Laboratories in 1958. Improvements were made but the results were less marked than with anti-psychotic drugs. This category also includes tetracyclic antidepressants or SSRIs such as Prozac, discovered by D. T. Wong at Eli Lilly and Company in 1974 and approved by the FDA in 1987.

Mood stabilizers

In 1949, the Australian John Cade discovered that lithium salts could control mania, reducing the frequency and severity of manic episodes. It did not take long for others to discover that these drugs also reduced the frequency and severity of depressive episodes. Other mood stabilizers include valproic acid, carbamazepine, lamotrigine, and topiramate.

Treatment of addiction

Research with the drug ibogaine to treat heroin addiction has shown much promise in eliminating physical withdrawal symptoms. The drug is obtained from an African plant and was used as early as the 1960s by Claudio Naranjo.