Clinical depression is a significant health care concern.
It strikes people from all walks of life. These patients
frequently have other medical or psychiatric comorbid conditions.
For that reason, a wide range of primary care and mental
health practitioners treat patients with clinical depression.
All of these diverse providers should find this book of
value.
Over the 6 years since the publication of the first edition,
there has been a dramatic increase in the number of available
antidepressants. For some practitioners, the sheer number
can be somewhat overwhelming. For that reason, this completely
revised second edition presents a system for understanding
and prescribing antidepressants from the perspective of
the clinical pharmacology. Antidepressants are divided into
eight pharmacologically distinct classes. The differences
among these classes are as great as the differences among
classes of antihypertensive medications. In fact, the only
feature that some of these classes share in common is their
ability to treat clinical depression. The goal of this book
is to help the prescriber take full advantage of all of
these options.
However, this book is more than just a pharmacology text
on antidepressants. The first five chapters discuss the
diagnosis of clinical depression, its impact on the patient,
and principles of good clinical management, including patient
education. The middle chapters present the clinically relevant
pharmacology of the various antidepressants. The last three
chapters cover managing antidepressant therapy.
In summary this book is designed to provide the practitioner
with:
- A basic understanding of clinical depression
- A system for rapid diagnosis and rational, efficient,
and effective treatment including:
Patient education
Brief supportive counseling
Medication as needed.