Main description:

This book is intended as a resource for all primary health care providers to use in their daily practices. It uses a cased-based framework supported by best evidence-based information and includes practice-ready field tested clinical tools that will help primary care health providers to integrate the best scientific evidence regarding depressive disorders into their care for patients.

The book provides a practical and primary care friendly self-learning experience in the area of depression across the life span and sets to improve knowledge about depression and its treatment among different age groups. It also helps practitioners help upgrade their core clinical skills which are necessary to diagnose, effectively treat and appropriately monitor depression across lifespan. In addition, this guide to depression seeks to provide primary care practitioners with clinical pearls and useful everyday tools that fit the practice reality of the busy primary health care provider.

The book will employ a case-based framework: information about depression in each of the age groups is presented within a clinical case (one case per chapter in Section two).

Case presentation ? age, gender, presentation, context, description of what is a happening, physical examination finding, etc.
Rational explanation ? how to interpret the signs and symptoms; walk the health provider through the differential diagnosis, explaining why or why not the case could be depression. It also include a short list of the most likely diseases or disorders underlying the patient?s symptoms.
Working diagnosis- what is the clinical presentation of depression in the specific group age; important information the physician needs to be awarded such as risk factors. Based on signs and symptoms, should I ask for laboratory X-rays or other images studies?
Treatment ? best evidence treatment for the group age, pharmacologic and practical psychosocial interventions that health care provider can establish in their practice.
Monitoring - how to effectively monitor outcomes in various domains using field tested and age appropriate clinical tools.
Sucide risk - measuing risk and appropriate interventions.
Red Flags and Referrals - when and where to refer a patient of this age
Discussion ? lesson learned.

There are special highlighted sections on:

Depression, prodrome or bipolar disorder? (adolescence)
Postpartum depression (adulthood)
Dementia or pseudodementia? (elderly)
Depression in patients with chronic disorder (youth, adulthood, elderly)