The management of depression in the primary care setting should ideally take a biological, psychological, and sociological approach. Antidepressants are the most commonly used biological agents in the treatment of depression. Psychological therapies and psychosocial interventions improve the outcome of treatment when combined with pharmacotherapy. Clinical depression is treatable and thus efforts should be made to alleviate the suffering of patients with depression.
One of the commonest psychological problems that a clinician would encounter in primary care is depression. The prevalence of depression is high in women, the elderly and those with underlying physical problems or during the postpartum period. The spectrum of clinical presentations is wide and somatic complaints are more common in primary care clinics. Depression may present as a primary disorder and co-morbidity with other psychological problems or physical illnesses is high. A good clinical interview is an important form of assessment and a quick screening of depression can be done with the administration of proper rating scales, such as the Patient Health Questionnaire, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale or Geriatric Depression Scale. Repeated use of the same scale in a patient would help the clinician to monitor the progress objectively.