Current Treatment of Depression

The author reviews current treatments for depression, emphasizing the biological therapies as the source of numerous developments in recent years. He outlines findings related to drug selection, the newer antidepressants, nonstandard antidepressants such as monoamine oxidase inhibitors, combined and maintenance drug therapy, and usefulness of plasma levels, along with developments in electroconvulsive therapy and cognitive and interpersonal therapy. Although some of the findings are technically arcane, he says, many of them can be translated into more effective patient care with the resources currently available to most psychiatrists.