Trazodone was originally discovered and developed in Italy in the 1960s by Angelini Research Laboratories as a second-generation antidepressant. It was developed according to the mental pain hypothesis, which was postulated from studying patients and which proposes that major depression is associated with a decreased pain threshold.^[2] Trazodone was patented and marketed in many countries all over the world. It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at the end of 1981.

Indications

• Unipolar depression, with or without anxiety
• Bipolar depression, in some circumstances
• Insomnia^[3][4][5] (in some countries, this is an off-label use)
• Control of nightmares or other sleep disturbances^[6]

Off-label and investigational uses

• Fibromyalgia^[7]
• Panic disorder^[8]
• Diabetic neuropathy^[9]
• Bulimia nervosa^[10]
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)^[11][12]
• Alcohol withdrawal^[13][14][15]
• Schizophrenia and other psychosis^[16][17]
• Complex Regional Pain Syndrome^{[citation needed]}