2 November 2000
Depression: good news about treatment, but attitudes need to change
On 20 November the Royal Society of Medicine's Key Advances
series looks at the way we handle Depression -
from the latest treatments to society's prejudices.
Speakers include:
Education
about depression needed right across society
Professor Arthur Crisp, St George's
Hospital - Reducing the stigma of depression
Anyone can become depressed - 10-20% of the general UK population
will have severe depression at some point in their lives. So why
is there such prejudice against people with this relatively common
disease? Professor Crisp will explore the idea that our own fear
fuels our need to distance ourselves from 'the kind of person who
becomes depressed'. Professor Crisp will report on the campaign
he chairs at the Royal College of Psychiatry to "inform, persuade
and empower" all age groups, in a unique multi-pronged approach
to tackling discrimination against people with mental illness.
"We
know more about treating depression than ever before"
Professor Philip Cowen Warneford
Hospital, Oxford - Drug treatment & depression
Professor Cowen will report on the latest developments in antidepression
medication, and will look at the potential for future treatments
from herbal-based medicines and from advances in neuroscience.
His view is an optimistic one - the wide range of modern drugs
with fewer side effects, plus our increasing understanding of the
illness, mean that things look brighter even for patients with
recurrent, long term depression.
Not
all 'treatment resistant' depression is really resistant
to treatment
Professor Anne Farmer Institute
of Psychiatry- Management of resistant
depression
Patients with chronic depression can start to lose hope that they
will ever get better. Professor Farmer will argue that calling
such patients 'treatment resistant' can be unhelpful. In most cases
of 'resistant' depression, there will be treatment combinations
which have not yet been tried, or not given a proper chance. She
will explain how looking carefully at a patient's treatment history
can help doctors find a new range of therapy options, even when
everything seems to have been tried already.
Teenage
depression can have a 'powerful effect' on emotional
development
Dr Anthony James Warneford Hospital,
Oxford Adolescents & their needs
One of the most common psychiatric problems amongst teenagers is
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Dr James will suggest that MDD
is 'under-recognised' in adolescents, and untreated, it can have
a "powerful effect on social and emotional development". Dr James
will look at possible environmental, biological and genetic causes
of depression in teenagers and will report on the most effective
treatment options for this age group.
Older
people with depression are missing out on treatment
Dr Sube Banerjee Institute of
Psychiatry - Depression in the elderly
Depression in the elderly is often ignored, Dr Banerjee will warn.
Only about 10-15% of older people with depression receive active
medical management of their symptoms. Depression can have a huge
impact on quality of life and can be treated relatively simply,
argues Dr Banerjee - the elderly respond just as well as young
patients to modern treatments, and their mental health must be
taken as seriously.
[ends]
