VOL 36 Supplement No. 2 Archives

FOREWORD

Remission: Today’s Target in the Treatment of Mood and Anxiety Disorders

Charles B. Nemeroff, MD, PhD

Advances in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders have been significant in recent years. The expectation among psychiatrists that patients can achieve remission is increasing, particularly with the advent of antidepressants with differing modes...

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Recent Advances in the Neurobiology of Depression

By Charles B. Nemeroff, MD, PhD

Elucidation of the neurobiological basis of depression and other mood disorders is rapidly increasing. Considerable experimental and clinical evidence supports the fundamental roles of serotonin and norepinephrine, as well as the interactions between these systems...

Pages 6-23 Read Article

New Goals in the Treatment of Depression: Moving Toward Recovery By Michael E. Thase, MD, and Philip T. Ninan, MD

Michael E. Thase, MD; and Philip T. Ninan, MD

Depression is associated with marked suffering, morbidity, and high risk of recurrence and/or chronicity. As a result, the disorder represents a considerable public health problem and economic burden on society. Treatment of patients with depression...

Pages 24-35 Read Article

Long-Term Treatment Strategies in Affective Disorders

Martin B. Keller, MD

Unipolar major depression is a disorder with a high incidence of relapse and recurrence. Some patients with major depression fail to recover from an episode and develop chronic depression. Both episodic and chronic depression are...

Pages 36-48 Read Article

New Developments in the Neurobiological Basis of Anxiety Disorders

Jack M. Gorman, MD; Robert M. A. Hirschfeld, MD; and Philip T. Ninan, MD

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a chronic disorder that often precedes the development of, and is comorbid with, depression. Investigation of the neurobiological basis of GAD has provided suggestive evidence implicating dysfunction of serotonergic and...

Pages 49-67 Read Article

Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Raising the Expectations of Treatment

Christer Allgulander, MD; and David V. Sheehan, MD, MBA

Anxiety disorders are prevalent and associated with an increase in morbidity and mortality, particularly when present with additional psychiatric disorders. They represent a public health and economic burden, yet they are commonly underrecognized and undertreated....

Pages 68-78 Read Article

Long-Term Treatment Strategies in Anxiety Disorders

Christer Allgulander, MD; Robert M. A. Hirschfeld, MD; and David J. Nutt, MD, PhD

Anxiety disorders are prevalent and associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Some chronic anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), may be characterized by an underlying high level of anxiety on which exacerbations of symptoms...

Pages 79-91 Read Article

Optimizing Treatment Outcomes for Patients With Depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Michael E. Thase, MD; and Madhukar Trivedi, MD

The goal of the acute phase of pharmacotherapy of major depressive disorder or generalized anxiety disorder is remission (i.e., complete resolution of symptoms) rather than simply a response (e.g., at least a ≥50% improvement in...

Pages 93-102 Read Article

Coping With Somatic Comorbidities: Striving for Complete Recovery

Christer Allgulander, MD; and Siegfried Kasper, MD

Depression is increasingly being recognized as a common comorbid disorder in patients with severe and chronic medical conditions. However, patients with depression and anxiety frequently present with somatic complaints such as aches and pains, headache,...

Pages 103-111 Read Article

Depression in the Elderly

William M. McDonald, MD; Carl Salzman, MD; and Alan F. Schatzberg, MD

Depression is prevalent in the elderly and associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Diagnosis can be complicated by the presence of concomitant medical and/or psychiatric disorders, and it is important to exclude a number of...

Pages 112-112 Read Article

Mechanism of Action of Antidepressants

Francesc Artigas, PhD; David J. Nutt, MD, PhD; and Richard Shelton, MD

A wide range of effective drugs is available for the treatment of major depression. The discovery of these agents has not always been the result of rational drug design. Tricyclic antidepressants formed the mainstay of...

Pages 123-132 Read Article

Depression Treatment: A Lifelong Commitment?

Martin B. Keller, MD, and Ernst R. Berndt, PhD

Depression is associated with considerable disability, morbidity, and mortality. In many patients, depression follows a course of relapse and/or recurrence. However, there is significant evidence that the majority of patients with depressive disorders are undertreated,...

Pages 133-141 Read Article

Algorithms in Clinical Psychiatry: A Stepped Approach Toward the Path to Recovery

Madhukar Trivedi, MD

The use of clinical practice guidelines and treatment algorithms has become increasingly prevalent across all fields of medicine. The Texas Medication Algorithm Project has developed algorithms for major depressive disorder to facilitate clinical decision-making by...

Pages 142-149 Read Article

Unraveling the Diagnostic Clues of Depression and GAD: The Primary Care Challenge

Johan A. den Boer, MD; Dwight L. Evans, MD; Sing Lee, MD, PhD; and Rafael Salin-Pascual, MD

Anxiety and depression are commonly encountered in primary care, with a prevalence ranging from 5% to 10%. These disorders are associated with significant and persistent impairment in functioning, risk of suicide, and substantial economic cost....

Pages 150-157 Read Article

Can We Distinguish Anxiety From Depression?

David S. Baldwin, FRCPsych; Dwight L. Evans, MD; Robert M. A. Hirschfeld, MD; and Siegfried Kasper, MD

It is becoming increasingly apparent that although anxiety and depression are separate syndromes and can be identified as such, there is considerable overlap of clinical symptoms and pathophysiological processes. Data indicate that comorbid anxiety and...

Pages 158-165 Read Article

Raising the Expectations of Long-Term Treatment Strategies in Anxiety Disorders