BMJ 2003;326:338 ( 8 February )

Letters

Depressed patients need more than drugs and psychiatrists

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR---Rost et al conducted a randomised controlled trial of ongoing treatment of depression in primary care, and Stroebele in response argued that it would make more sense for a patient to see a psychiatrist once and receive drug treatment if necessary for three or six months. 1 2

I do not believe a psychiatrist can make an accurate diagnosis after a single visit. Patients do not start to reveal themselves until a genuine trust and rapport have been established. Information gathered on an initial visit is likely to be extremely superficial and inadequate simply because the patients are depressed. They are not thinking clearly and usually forget to tell their doctors the most important things the doctors need to know.

I have seen too many misdiagnoses and bad prescribing of drug treatments. The pharmaceutical monographs available on drugs are often based on human trials in healthy male participants who are . . . [Full text of this article]
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Relevant Article

Managing depression as a chronic disease: a randomised trial of ongoing treatment in primary care
Kathryn Rost, Paul Nutting, Jeffrey L Smith, Carl E Elliott, and Miriam Dickinson
BMJ 2002 325: 934. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Rapid Responses:

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