OUTPATIENT MANAGEMENT OF THE DEPRESSED PATIENT

Major depression is a serious, potentially life-threatening illness th at can cause significant pain and suffering. It afflicts up to 50% of patients who are seen in the primary care setting. However, it is a re markably treatable disorder, once it is recognized. The mainstay of tr eatment is education about the illness, brief supportive counseling; a nd antidepressant medication. This monograph is a synopsis of a book, Outpatient Management of the Depressed Patient, recently published on this subject. We focus on how to diagnose and treat major depression i n the primary care setting; in which the vast majority of patients wit h this condition are seen. We review the condition itself, how to esta blish the diagnosis, what education and brief supportive counseling ar e needed and how to provide them, how to select an antidepressant, and how to use the drug to induce and maintain remission.