I Am Depressed

1 Wai-chi Chan Department of Psychiatry LKS Faculty of Medicine The University of Hong Kong I a m depr essed” Outlines What is depression? Epidemiology of depression Neurobiology of depression Diagnosing depression Treating depression Interacting with the patient Questions and Answers Take Home Messages Depression is a biological disorder Depression is an illness, not a weakness Active research on numerous mechanisms Depression can be “secondary ” Many drugs are available to treat depression Psychotherapies are important treatments Treat the patient “ biopsychosocially ” Keep the patient safe! Depression! I feel: “upset” “bad” “blue” “trashed” “terrible” “down” “sad” “depressed” What is depressio n? Not simply mood fluctuation or “feeling down” A clinical synd rome There are physical / biological symptoms Note the neuroscientific basis Diagnostic criteria exist “Come on, don’t think about it” is not a cure! Lifetime prevalence of 15 percent More in female (up to 25%) Mean age of onset about 20 to 30 Concordance rate in monozygotic twins is 50% Costs $85 billion HKD yearly for lost of productivity Fourth leading cause of disability worldwide Epidemiology

I Am Depressed

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