DEPRESSION – WHAT FAMILY DOCTOR SHOULD KNOW ABOUT IT

Depression is the most common mental health illness which family doctors / GPs have to deal with in their everyday practice, and it can clinically simulate different chronic diseases. Patients with depression undergo many laboratory and instrumental investigations, which often do not reveal any organic impairment; they are prescribed unnecessary medication, which brings them no clinical benefit, but itself can cause adverse reactions requiring treatment in turn. That is why it is very important to reveal depression early and initiate treatment on time on the primary care level. Different scales, such as PHQ-9 and PHQ-2, are available for this purpose.