Doxazosin improved COVID-19 associated nightmare in a patient with major depressive disorder: a case report with a positive rechallenge

A Critical View on New and Future Antidepressants

For the first time after many decades, many new antidepressants have been approved and many more are under various stages of development and will soon be available in the market. The new drugs present a range of new mechanisms of action with benefits in terms of speed of action, tolerability and range of treatable disorders. Neurosteroids have been recently approved and their rapid benefit may extend from postpartum depression to anxious depression and bipolar depression, dextromethorphan and bupropion combination may prove useful in major depression but also in treatment resistant depression, dextromethadone is a possible augmentation in partial antidepressant response, psychedelic drugs have the potential of long lasting benefits after a single administration, though are still experimental treatments. Botulinum has the same advantage of psychedelics of a single administration and its antidepressant effects may last for weeks or more. Further potentially interesting new antidepressant mechanisms include new drug targets, drug repurposing and genetic or epigenetic manipulations. It is therefore important that clinicians are kept up to date with new evidence so that new evidence can be rapidly translated into clinical practice.

Depression Relapse during Long-Term Remission due to Media-Amplified Fear during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has reoriented societies across the world and placed a significant burden on caring for mental health among its population. In this study, we reported two cases where patients experiencing severe depression with delusions of having COVID-19 required inpatient treatment after long-term remission owing to the negative impact of media reports related to the pandemic. Despite the aggravation of their anxiety, the patients were unable to distance themselves from negative information in attempts to remain informed through media to prevent their families and themselves from being infected. Self-protection through improved media literacy is imperative for people to protect themselves from the fearmongering of the media and infodemic in the present-day scenario.