Critical issues in the management of depression

Primary care providers (PCPs) see patients with depression on a daily basis , but they frequently overlook signs and symptoms of this illness because t hey are looking for physical signs of illness. Even when they identify the symptoms of depressive illness in a patient, they are constrained by the fe ar of stigmatizing the patient. The general public is either unaware of the active symptoms of depression or they view them as a sign of weakness or a natural part of aging. Ineffective treatment of depression is expensive. D epressed patients use medical services 50% to 100% more frequently than tho se who are not depressed. By appropriately treating depression, PCPs can lo wer the unnecessary and ineffective utilization of medical services by depr essed patients without increasing the cost of treating them.