Treatment options for depression in Parkinson’s disease: a mini-review

Depression is a common comorbidity in Parkinson's disease (PD), significantly reducing patients' quality of life. This mini-review examines pharmacological and nonpharmacological therapies for managing depression in PD, analyzing their benefits, and limitations. Pharmacological options include tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), levodopa, dopaminergic agonists, and monoamine oxidase B inhibitors. Nonpharmacological strategies involve brief psychodynamic therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), physical exercise, phytomedicine, massage therapy, music therapy, phototherapy, yoga, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), transcranial direct current stimulation, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and deep brain stimulation. SSRIs, SNRIs, and some dopamine agonists have shown effectiveness and good tolerability, especially when combined with CBT or rTMS. For severe or refractory cases, ECT remains a viable option. Although many of these therapies show promise, the limited number and scale of studies for each treatment restrict the strength of current evidence. Further large-scale, multicenter randomized-controlled trials are essential to validate these preliminary findings and establish evidence-based guidelines. In addition, the potential benefits of social support and brief psychodynamic therapy in the context of PD-related depression require further exploration to provide holistic care strategies for this population.