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Mental Health

Treatment for Depression

Is depression treatable?

Depression is one of the most treatable mental illnesses. The American Psychiatric Association reports that "between 80 and 90 percent of all depressed people respond to treatment and nearly all depressed people who receive treatment experience at least some relief from their symptoms."

Along with the great strides made in understanding the causes of depression, scientists are closer to understanding how treatment of the illness works.

Medical/physical evaluation for treating depression:

Depression is a complex illness, and many factors in a depressed person's life may affect their condition. Therefore, a complete medical evaluation is essential. For example, some common illnesses and some commonly used medications can bring on depression. A medical evaluation will reveal the presence of these conditions or medicines.

The physician may also perform or order a physical exam for the patient to rule out an undiagnosed medical problem(s) that might lead to depressive illness.

A psychiatric history and a mental status examination will be performed to provide the patient's emotional background and uncover changes in the patient's mood, thoughts, patterns of speech, and memory.

Generally, based on the outcome of the evaluations, treatment for depressive disorders includes medication or psychotherapy, or a combination of the two treatment methods.
This page was last updated on: February 5, 2008.


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