Abstract

Theme: Depression is the most common disorder in psychiatry and nearly 350 million people worldwide suffer from depression while it significantly affects their social and personal functions. Methods: This study was conducted as an internship double blind clinical trial. In the first part, the level and function in patients with depression were measured using the Beck test scores and 60 patients were selected who got scores higher than 13. Then, they were randomly classified into two groups of 30, one of which was received special serotonin reuptake inhibitors (fluvoxine20-80 mg or citalopram 20-40, or sertraline with congestion 50-200 mg) in addition to omega- 3 fatty acid while the other group received special serotonin reuptake inhibitors (the same as previous group) in addition to a placebo. The two groups were tested at weeks 0, 2, 4, and 8 in order to evaluate depression and functional status through Beck Test. Results: The results indicated that the mean of depression among patients who received omega- 3 in the first week was 50.3, which reached 9.2 in end of the eighth week. It was significantly different in weeks 2, 4 and 6 from placebo group. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated that the use of omega- 3s with optional serotonin-inhibitor drugs can improve the symptoms of patients with major depressive disorder.