Tricyclic antidepressants are a class of
antidepressant drugs
first used in the
1960s. Tricyclic antidepressants are not addictive. Although they remain effective, they have been increasingly replaced by
SSRIs because the difference between
a therapeutic and a toxic dose of a tricyclic antidepressant is small. Like
monoamine oxidase inhibitors, this posed a
difficulty for the physician in that they were prescribing a
medication for a depressed person that could be used to
commit
suicide.