Page 73 - merged

Special Lecture 3

Integrated Treatment of Depression: Pharmacological and Non-pharmacological
Methods

Min-Soo Lee, M.D., Ph.D.

Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Korea University

Depression, a worldwide public health issue, is a highly prevalent psychiatric disorder that
tends to be recurrent and chronic. However, clinical treatment for depression had not been
standardized yet, and is usually dependent on the clinical experiences or decisions of individual
psychiatrists. Many researchers all over the world are trying to make heroic effort to develop
treatment protocols and guidelines for depression in order to maximize the effectiveness. In Korea,
as a national project, the psychiatrists made a Korean version of an evidence-based clinical guideline
of pharmacological treatment for depression in 2007 and a non-pharmacological treatment guideline
for depression in 2009. Many researchers in other Asian countries such as China and Japan develop
and suggest treatment guidelines for depression. Several researches and discussions about depression
related with age, gender, and psychotic symptoms are in progress. Although pharmacological
treatment constitutes the main therapeutic approach for depression, non-pharmacological treatments
(self-care or psychotherapeutic approach) are often regarded as more essential therapeutic
approaches in clinical practice. Several nations and institutions are paying closer attention to
developing the non-pharmacological treatments. In addition, understanding the effective non-
pharmacological treatments such as exercise therapy, bibliotherapy, cognitive behavior therapy,
short-term psychodynamic supportive psychotherapy, and interpersonal psychotherapy is recognized
as important. We are able to provide better therapeutic effect and prognosis to the patients suffering
from depression by applying the pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments at the right
time.