Abstract
According to the World Health Organization, depression is the most frequent mental disorder. Its main symptoms are depressive mood, lack of interest, and fatigue. The mental illness of depression must be differentiated from common periods of sadness or grief. Basic interventions include providing the patient with information about the cause and treatment of depression, accompanying and supporting the patient, as well as gradually reactivating the patient. Patients with mild depression can successfully be treated with psychotherapy, whereas patients with moderate to severe depression need psychotherapy as well as antidepressant drugs. Patients with risk of suicide must be identified. Interventions for suicide prevention are described.
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Fritzsche, K. et al. (2020). Depressive Disorders. In: Fritzsche, K., McDaniel, S., Wirsching, M. (eds) Psychosomatic Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27080-3_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27080-3_8
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