Treatment of depression

Abstract

The antidepressant treatment should be accomplished considering the patient's biological, psychological and social aspects. In average, there are no significant differences in terms of efficacy among the different antidepressants but the profile in terms of collateral effects, price, suicide risk, tolerability shows great variation which implies in differences in the effectiveness of drugs for each patient. The therapy, therefore, should be individualized. The prophylactic prescription of antidepressants will depend on the intensity and frequency of the depressive episodes. The suicide risk should always be evaluated and if necessary ECT should be prescribed. There is no ideal antidepressant, however, there is a large variety of drugs acting through different mechanisms of action which allows the possibility of therapeutic success in resistant depressions.