Major depression is an illness with substantial personal and economic morbidity (Greenberg et al.1993) and antidepressants are the cornerstone of treatment. As antidepressants usually require 3-6 weeks of use before a response occurs, an effective antidepressant acceleration strategy would reduce the time of onset for an effective antidepressant response. This has significant clinical implications, as it could lead to reduced symptom morbidity, potentially reduce health care cost (i.e. shorter hospital length of stay), and improve functional capacity and quality of life.