Depression

Depression is one of the common mental disorders, afflicting an estimated 5% of the adults worldwide. It is characterized by persistent depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, recurrent thoughts of death, and physical and cognitive symptoms.
Depression consists of different forms and the current seminar will focus mostly on the major depressive disorder (MDD). It will present an overview on the prevalence, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis and managements of depression. Importantly, the seminar will explore different treatment options of depression. Besides the antidepressant drugs, they include cognitive behavioural therapy, lifestyle adjustment, dietary intervention, and stress management and other alternative treatments. In addition, the seminar will also discuss the potential problems when dealing with patients with depression at clinical practice and how to communicate effectively with these patients.

Working method
Besides the transfer of knowledge by means of PowerPoints as described above, we will also work interactively. Real-life cases will be discussed in the group after which the lecturer will relate her experiences with these patients. The aim is to increase participants’ understanding and insight into these patients’ way of thinking, so that communication is improved and treatment is more effective.