Depression Treatments

CONTEXT
Depression is a psychological disease. It is one of the most common mental illnesses (Blais, et al., 2013). Depression was known since antiquity. Hippocrates diagnosed it in fourth century BC (McNamara and Horan, 1986). After World War II, depression was described as “aggression turned inward” (McNamara & Horan, 1986). Now there is Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, which is designed to evaluate how severe is depression (Gibbons et al., 2012).
Depression is known worldwide. In European countries there are generally two ways of treatment: using antidepressants or psychotherapy. The systems differ from country to country. In United Kingdom general practitioner [GP] has a right to prescribe drugs, but in Germany only psychiatrist or neurologist can do it (Willsher et al., 2013). The psychotherapy is usually expensive treatment, but in Germany government offers five first sessions for free, whereas in Spain GP chooses to refer patient to mental healthcare system only in severe cases (Willsher et al., 2013).
Approximately 17% of people are having depression in their lifetime (Gibbons, et al., 2012). It was found that “more than 350 million people of all ages suffer from depression” (World Health Organization [WHO], 2012). It is the fourth in the rating of major public problems, and it is predicted to be illness number one in developed countries by year 2030 (Hollon and Sexton, 2012). In Scotland, the number of patients in ten years has been reduced by half, but the number of antidepressants prescribed has doubled (Stirling, 2013). According the Scottish NHS there are 420 thousand patients who are receiving depression treatment (Stirling, 2013). However this statistics might not reflect the size of the problem. According to...

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...riptions increase. Pulse. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/clinical/therapy-areas/mental-health/number-of-patients-presenting-with-depression-halves-in-ten-years-while-anti-depressant-prescriptions-increase/20005103.article#.UpIA1qUkfDM
Williams, A. D., Blackwell, S. E., Mackenzie, A., Holmes, E. A., & Andrews, G. (2013). Combining imagination and reason in the treatment of depression: A randomized controlled trial of internet-based cognitive-bias modification and internet-CBT for depression. Journal Of Consulting And Clinical Psychology, 81(5), 793-799. doi:10.1037/a0033247
Willsher, K., Oltermann, P., Hamilos, P., & Infante, V. (2013, November 21). How depression treatment differs throughout Europe. The Guardian. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/nov/21/depression-treatment-antidepressants-europe