첫 삽화 이후의 임상적 경과와 치료전략

Abstract

The long-term course of depression has been underestimated because it is considered as an episodic disease. A small number of long-term researches suggested that depression would be a life-long disorder and have the various faces of courses. Although pharmacotherapy, psychotherapy and electroconvulsive therapy are effective treatment modalities for depression, those prospective studies showed that depression is a chronic disorder and the individual with depres- sion has a low rate of recovery and a high rate of relapse. Especially, the symptoms are more chronic in the patients who have not accomplished a recovery within one year from a single episode. Therefore clinicians should pay attention to residual symptoms and resolve these symptoms through the use of precisely timed treatment. Moreover, after remis- sion, patients with depression will continue to benefit from maintenance treatment of antidepressant over a period of 6 month to diminish the risk of relapse.