[Treating depression? All secrets exposed! The tricks of the trade!]

Depression is highly prevalent in the general population and is also costly to society. Although a wide range of pharmacological and psychological antidepressant therapies is available, the vast majority of people with depression remain unrecognised and untreated. Most depressed patients will respond to appropriate treatment, but the clinical management of depression involves far more than antidepressant drugs alone. Treatment failure, or refractory depression, can be overcome when therapeutic strategies adopt a logical, comprehensive and long-term approach. Understanding the interplay of clinical and neurochemical factors associated with the pathogenesis of depression can help physicians to find effective therapeutic alternatives for most of the depressed patients under their care.