Yafteh

Background: Depression is one of the most common psychological disorders. Most depressed patients experience multiple recurrences despite the pharmacologic therapy. Many studies have reported that countries with high rates of fish consumption have low rates of depressive disorder. The aim of present study is to evaluate the effect of omega-3 as a complementary treatment on the patients with recurrent unipolar depressive disorder who were receiving maintenant antidepressant therapy.

Materials and Methods: In a clinical trial, eighty patients with a diagnosis of recurrent major depressive disorder were divided into two groups of forty. One group received standard anti-depressive therapy (with SSRIs) and the other received omega-3 in addition to standard therapy. Results: Findings of the study showed that adding omega-3, significantly reduced depression score and increased patients’ function.

Conclusion: Results showed that omega-3 can be added to the standard treatment in patients with recurrent and refractory depressive disorder as complementary treatment.