Major Depressive Disorder

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SCREENING/DIAGNOSIS AND THE FUTURE OF MDD TREATMENT

Major Depressive Disorder Clinical Update

Major depressive disorder is a serious mood disorder that is improved with the right treatment. Depression often runs in families and is diagnosed after a psychiatric examination and medical history analysis, which are usually performed by a mental health professional.

Featured

Pop Quiz

Youth Risk Behavior Survey Reveals Percentage of Female Adolescents Feeling Persistent Sadness

11/12/2023

The CDC’s latest Youth Risk Behavior Survey was given to more than 17,000 adolescents at high schools across the United States in the fall of 2021. Do you know which way the percentage of female adolescents...

11/12/2023

Podcast

The Challenges of Diagnosing a Patient With Bipolar Disorder

10/16/2023

In part 1 of this 2-part episode, W. Clay Jackson, MD, DipTH, speaks about diagnosing patients with bipolar disorder, other disorders commonly confused with bipolar disorder, and the risk factors and the...

10/16/2023

Pop Quiz

Pop Quiz

Treatment Options for Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

09/28/2023

This pop quiz is based on the session titled “Evolving Management Strategies in Major Depressive Disorder: Smarter Choices After Unsuccessful First-Line Treatment” by Vladimir Maletic, MD, MS, et al. at...

09/28/2023

Interactive Features

Pop Quiz

Youth Risk Behavior Survey Reveals Percentage of Female Adolescents Feeling Persistent Sadness

11/12/2023

Pop Quiz

Treatment Options for Patients With Major Depressive Disorder

09/28/2023

Poll

Screening for Depression, Anxiety in Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis

09/23/2023

According to the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA), mood disorders are a key comorbidity in patients with psoriatic arthritis. How often do you screen for...

09/23/2023

Poll

Poll

Patient Engagement, Adherence in Patients With Depression

07/28/2023

This poll is based on the session titled “State of Depression” at Psych Congress 2022 by Charles DeBattista, MD, DMH, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and director of the Depression Research...

07/28/2023

Pop Quiz

Discontinuation Rates in Major Depressive Disorder

03/01/2023

The reasons for discontinuing antidepressant therapy vary and can be based on patient or clinician factors. Do you know what percentage of patients typically stop antidepressant use after 6 months?

03/01/2023

Clinical Insights

Podcast

The Challenges of Diagnosing a Patient With Bipolar Disorder

10/16/2023

Conference Coverage

Conference Coverage

Wrap-Up: Digging Deeper: Renewing the Primary Care Commitment to Mental Health

09/27/2023

In this video, Josh Hamilton, APRN-BC, CTMH, CLNC, CNE, provides an overview of the session “Digging Deeper: Renewing the Primary Care Commitment to Mental Health” at our Practical Updates in Primary Care...

09/27/2023

Conference Coverage

Measurement-Based Care in Major Depressive Disorder

08/17/2023

In this video, Saundra Jain, MA, PsyD, LPC, and Manish K. Jha, MBBS, speak about their session at Psych Congress 2022 titled “Measurement-Based Care in Depression and Beyond: What is it and how to make it...

08/17/2023

Conference Coverage

Preview: Digging Deeper: Renewing the Primary Care Commitment to Mental Health

07/13/2023

In this video, Josh Hamilton, APRN-BC, CTMH, CLNC, CNE, provides a preview of the session “Digging Deeper: Renewing the Primary Care Commitment to Mental Health” at our Practical Updates in Primary Care...

07/13/2023

Conference Coverage

Conference Coverage

Major Depressive Disorder: Emerging Treatments

06/30/2023

In this video, Mark Zimmerman, MD, speaks about emerging treatments for patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), including the recent research suggesting that the focus of depression treatment should...

06/30/2023

Major Depressive Disorder Snapshot

For more mental health content, visit the Resource Center

For a period of at least 2 weeks, an individual maintains a depressed mood, which may involve feelings of guilt or worthlessness, lack of energy, poor concentration, appetite changes, agitation, sleep disturbances, or suicidal thoughts.

For more psychology content, visit the Resource Center

clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, primary care physicians, emergency medicine, social workers

For more perspective from key opinion leaders in mental health, visit the Clinical Insights page

One must have at least 5 symptoms from this list: depressed mood, inability to experience pleasure, feelings of guilt or worthlessness, lack of energy, poor concentration, appetite changes, agitation, sleep disturbances, or suicidal thoughts

For more perspective on major depression disorder, visit the Clinical Insights page

(continued) From that list, one of the symptoms must be a depressed mood or inability to experience pleasure in order to be diagnosed with MDD.

Ref: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559078/

For more patient education content, visit the Resource Center

The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9): Used to quantify severity and assist in diagnosis of depression symptoms. PHQ-9 scores each of the DSM criteria of MDD as “0” (not at all) to “3” (nearly every day), providing a 0-27 severity score.

For more patient safety content, visit the Resource Center

Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D): clinician-administered depression rating scale commonly used to measure depression in adults. Of the 21 items on the scale, only the first 17 are used for scoring.

For more perspective from leaders in psychology, visit the Clinical Insights page

(continued) Other tests include: Beck Depression Inventory, Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, Geriatric Depression Scale, Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale

For more primary care content, visit the Resource Center

In 2021, an estimated 21 million adults in the United States had at least one major depressive episode, representing an estimated 8.3% of all U.S. adults.

for more public health content, visit the Resource Center

The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends that all adults—including those pregnant and postpartum—be screened for depression.

For more pediatrics content, visit the Resource Center

The percentage of female high school students who experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2021 was 57%, a record level and double the rate of males.

Research Summaries

Research summary

Research summary

USPSTF Recommendations on Screening for MDD, Suicide Risk in Adults

07/28/2023

Jessica Ganga

The USPSTF has updated its recommendations on screening adults for major depressive disorder (MDD) and suicide risk.

07/28/2023

Research Summary

ACP Updates MDD Treatment Guidelines

02/15/2023

The American College of Physicians updated its recommendations on pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment options for adults with major depressive disorder.

02/15/2023

Electroconvulsive Therapy

Electroconvulsive Therapy Potentially a Better Option in Treating Major Depressive Episodes Than Ketamine

01/05/2023

Researchers conducted a systematic review to compare the treatment efficacy and safety of ketamine and electroconvulsive therapy.

01/05/2023

Conference Coverage

Diagnosis, Management Strategies for Treatment-Resistant Depression

11/18/2022

This article summarizes a presentation on treatment-resistant depression by Manish Jha, MBBS, at Practical Updates in Primary Care 2022 Virtual Series.

11/18/2022

Conference Coverage

Evolving Management Strategies in MDD: Smarter Choices After Unsuccessful First-Line Treatment

10/14/2022

Implementing the best treatment strategies is important when treating a patient with major depressive disorder (MDD), especially if first-line treatment fails. This article summarizes a presentation on...

10/14/2022

November 2023

Current Issue

November 2023

Volume 63

Issue 11

Sources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559078/
https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/major-depression
Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JB. The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. J Gen Intern Med. 2001 Sep;16(9):606-13.
https://www.med.upenn.edu/cbti/assets/user-content/documents/Hamilton%20Rating%20Scale%20for%20Depression%20(HAM-D).pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth behavior risk survey: data summary and trends report. Accessed March 31, 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/yrbs_data_summary_and_trends.htm