A Patient in Your Office With Depression
I'm Stephen M. Strakowski, a professor of psychiatry, psychology, and biomedical engineering at the University of Cincinnati (UC), and also a senior vice president and chief strategy officer for the affiliated health system, UC Health. Today I'm going to talk about the management of major depressive illness.
Depression is one of the most common conditions facing human beings. Its lifetime prevalence is as much as 15% of the population. It strikes all age and socioeconomic groups, and it's so common that most depression will be treated by default by nonpsychiatric physicians. Frankly there aren't enough psychiatrists around to meet the large demand for treatment of depression.
Key Components of Management
In facing a patient in your office with depression, there are seven key components to think about as you start working with that person. These are listed in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Seven key components of depression management.
These seven key components are comprehensive assessment, ongoing safety evaluations, setting treatment goals, agreed-upon treatment plan to meet the goals, creating a good support network, mood charting, and systematic and meaningful appointments. We will talk about the last component towards the end of this discussion, but it becomes particularly important in busy primary care practices.
Depression
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COMMENTARY
Managing Depression in Primary Care: A Step-by-Step Guide
Stephen M. Strakowski, MD
DisclosuresSeptember 10, 2015
A Patient in Your Office With Depression
I'm Stephen M. Strakowski, a professor of psychiatry, psychology, and biomedical engineering at the University of Cincinnati (UC), and also a senior vice president and chief strategy officer for the affiliated health system, UC Health. Today I'm going to talk about the management of major depressive illness.
Depression is one of the most common conditions facing human beings. Its lifetime prevalence is as much as 15% of the population. It strikes all age and socioeconomic groups, and it's so common that most depression will be treated by default by nonpsychiatric physicians. Frankly there aren't enough psychiatrists around to meet the large demand for treatment of depression.
Key Components of Management
In facing a patient in your office with depression, there are seven key components to think about as you start working with that person. These are listed in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Seven key components of depression management.
These seven key components are comprehensive assessment, ongoing safety evaluations, setting treatment goals, agreed-upon treatment plan to meet the goals, creating a good support network, mood charting, and systematic and meaningful appointments. We will talk about the last component towards the end of this discussion, but it becomes particularly important in busy primary care practices.
Medscape Psychiatry © 2015 WebMD, LLC
Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Stephen M. Strakowski. Managing Depression in Primary Care: A Step-by-Step Guide - Medscape - Sep 10, 2015.
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Authors and Disclosures
Authors and Disclosures
Author(s)
Stephen M. Strakowski, MD
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Psychology, and Biomedical Engineering, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine; Senior Vice President, Strategy and Transformation, University of Cincinnati Health, Cincinnati, Ohio
Disclosure: Stephen M. Strakowski, MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Serve(d) as a director, officer, partner, employee, advisor, consultant, or trustee for: Roche; Procter & Gamble; Novartis; Sunovion
Received income in an amount equal to or greater than $250 from: Roche; Procter & Gamble; Novartis; Sunovion; Oxford University Press