Early onset of action and sleep-improving effect are crucial
in decreasing suicide risk: the role of quetiapine XR in the treatment
of unipolar and bipolar depression

Although the possibilities of antidepressive pharmacotherapy are continuously improving, the rate of nonresponders
or partial responders is still relatively high. Suicidal behavior, the most tragic consequence of untreated or unsuccessfully
treated depression, commonly observed in the first few weeks of antidepressive treatment before the onset of therapeutic
action, is strongly related to certain symptoms of depression like insomnia. The present paper reviews the newly discovered
and well-documented antidepressive effect of quetiapine in bipolar and unipolar depression with special focus on its
early onset of action and its sleep-improving effects. Both beneficial effects play an important role in the reduction of suicidal
risk frequently observed in depressed patients.