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.