The current aims of Dr. Friedman's research are:

1. To evaluate the efficacy of various antidepressant medications in the treatment of chronic depression.
   
2. To study the effectiveness of long-term maintenance antidepressant treatment in chronic depression.
   
3. To study the neurobiology of chronic depression.
   
4. To study the social and occupational impairments of chronic depression.

Dr. Friedman is currently conducting the following clinical studies:

• A double blind comparison of sertraline versus imipramine for "double depression" (i.e., dysthymia with major depression) and chronic major depression for both short and long-term treatment.
  

  
  

• A double blind long-term study of desipramine versus placebo for dysthymia and other forms of chronic depression.
  

  
  

• A tryptophan depletion paradigm, which acutely lowers brain serotonin levels, to study the role of serotonin in chronic depression.

Future plans include a study to simultaneously examine brain activity with MRI, behavior, and serotonin functions in patients with chronic depression.