Tag archives for Mental Disorder
Managing Resistant Depression. Part 8
Posted By Kelly On Monday, May 2nd 2011 under: Depression Tags: Antidepressants, Depression, Drugs, Medications, Mental Disorder, Mental health
Absolute treatment resistance
In most surveys, the number of patients with absolute treatment resistance is very small. In some specialized tertiary referral clinics, only about 7% of patients remain depressed after 1 year of extensive investigations and treatment. However, extensive treatment involves many drug trials, singly and in combination, as well as ECT. Typically, people with absolute treatment resistance are older (mean age about 55), have been depressed for a longer ... Read More
The Treatment of Anxiety Disorders
Posted By Kelly On Tuesday, March 16th 2010 under: Book review Tags: Anxiety, Mental Disorder, Treatment
The Treatment of Anxiety Disorders: Clinician's Guide and Patient Treatment Manuals
Gavin Andrews, Rocco Crino, Caroline Hunt, Lisa Lampe, Andrew Page, 423 pp, ISBN 0-521-46927-9, Cambridge University Press 1996
Writing for psychiatrists and clinical psychologists, Gavin Andrews and his co-authors claim that their book 'provides most of the information needed for the successful treatment of patients with anxiety disorders'. About three-quarters of the book is said to be unique in terms of ... Read More
Management of Resistant Depression. Factors. Treatment Adequate.
Posted By Kelly On Sunday, February 28th 2010 under: Management Tags: Antidepressants, Depression, Mental Disorder, Treatment
Are there underlying physical factors?
Many physical diseases present with depressive symptoms or complicate depressive illness (Table 2). Some of these illnesses remain undetected for years and account for an apparent treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Normal thyroid function is particularly important; even mild or subclinical hypothyroidism can impair response to antidepressants. Hypothyroidism can be induced by lithium therapy, and many drugs, both medical and nonmedical, can cause depression or complicate treatment (Table ... Read More
Management of Resistant Depression. Subtypes of Depression
Posted By Kelly On Friday, February 26th 2010 under: Management Tags: Depression, lusert, lusert-drug, lusert-sertraline, Mental Disorder
More than 20% of patients with major depression have not recovered after 2 years and, of those who do initially recover, 20% suffer a relapse 1 year later. Most studies have shown that 60% to 70% of patients respond to the first antidepressant used and a further 10% to 15% respond either to a second antidepressant or to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). About 15% of patients fail to recover even with ... Read More
Treating mental illness in primary care
Posted By Kelly On Saturday, January 23rd 2010 under: Book review Tags: Mental Disorder, Mental health
Managing Mental Health Problems.
A Practical Guide for Primary Care
Nick Kates, Marilyn Craven
Hogrefe & Huber Publishers, 12 Bruce Park Ave, Toronto, ON M4P 2S3
1998/390 pp
Strengths
Practical, useful instruction
Weaknesses
Not comprehensive
For a long time, managing mental health problems in primary care has been poorly understood and criticized by physicians not principally involved in primary care. I believe this misunderstanding stems in part from not having defined the skill set unique to family practice. Therefore, ... Read More
Psychiatric Primary Care
Posted By Kelly On Friday, January 22nd 2010 under: Book review Tags: Mental Disorder, Psychiatric Illnesses, Psychiatric treatment
Linda Denise Oakley, Claudette Potter
Mosby-Year Book, Inc, 11830 Westline Industrial Dr, St Louis, MO 63146 USA
1997/448 pp
Strengths
Assessment and DSM-IV diagnosis
Weakness
Specific pharmacologie treatment
Audience
Family physicians and allied mental health professionals
The authors of this ambitious book state, "We have developed a book for primary care practitioners that presents everything from basic mental concepts and terms to clinical examples of psychiatric primary care."
The book is divided into five parts that deal with basic concepts ... Read More
Early detection of depression. Part 4
Posted By Kelly On Thursday, November 26th 2009 under: Depression Tags: Depression, Mental Disorder, Mental health
Special problems
The early detection of depression is much more complex and challenging than the detection of other conditions seen in the primary care physician's office. Perhaps the most significant reason for this is how the natural history of depression differs from that of most conditions for which there are effective measures for prevention or early detection. The successful early detection of diseases or of ... Read More
Early detection of depression. Part 3
Posted By Kelly On Thursday, November 26th 2009 under: Depression Tags: Depression, Mental Disorder, Mental health
Effectiveness of early detection
The critical question with any intervention for early detection and treatment is whether it does more good than harm as compared with the results of later diagnosis and intervention. The appropriate research tool for answering such a question is the randomized controlled trial. A MEDLINE search of the literature and subsequent secondary searches identified only four trials of sufficient methodologic ... Read More
Early detection of depression. Part 2
Posted By Kelly On Thursday, November 26th 2009 under: Depression Tags: Depression, Mental Disorder, Mental health
Are there acceptable routine screening tests?
Instruments for routine case-finding in primary care settings must be of acceptable quality, brief and easy to use. Presumably the patients would complete the test while waiting to see their physician. Most self-administered tests have been designed for routine screening purposes and not as diagnostic aids. Some tests have been developed for settings in which the prevalence of ... Read More
Early detection of depression. Part 1
Posted By Kelly On Thursday, November 26th 2009 under: Depression Tags: Depression, Mental Disorder, Mental health
Depression is common and can usually be treated effectively. However, in many cases physicians may not recognize depression, especially in its early stages. Because the burden of suffering can be high, including death through suicide, early recognition and treatment are worth while. Such efforts are not as easy as they seem, and evidence of their effectiveness must be evaluated.
All physicians must be sensitive to verbal ... Read More