What is the purpose of tricyclic antidepressants?
Since their discovery in the 1950s, tricyclic antidepressants have been used to treat mental depression. Like other antidepressant drugs, they reduce symptoms such as extreme sadness, hopelessness, and lack of energy. Some tricyclic antidepressants are also used to treat bulimia, cocaine withdrawal, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorders, certain types of chronic pain, and bed-wetting in children. Source: The Gale Group. Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, 3rd ed.